Pope Francis has accepted the retirement request for Sioux City Catholic Diocese Bishop Walter Nickless. Bishop Nickless has served Sioux City since 2006 and says he submitted his request for retirement in May of 2022 as is required when you turn 75. He joked about not getting approval until recently.
The Pope also appointed 59-year-old Father John Keehner of the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio to take over in Sioux City May 1st. Keehner described the call to come to Sioux City.
Bishop Nickless says he called Keehner shortly after learning he would be his replacement.
Father Keehner did not grow up a Catholic but earned a B-A in English in 1988 from the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. He began his studies at Mount St. Mary Seminary of the West in Cincinnati and was ordained a priest in 1993.
There are 24 counties in the Sioux City Diocese with some 84,000 parishioners, 37 parishes, and 36 priests in active ministry. There are 15 Catholic schools in the Diocese.
