WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pope Francis has named Bishop Chad W. Zielinski of Fairbanks, Alaska, to head the Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota.

Since 2014, the 57-year-old prelate has served as the fifth bishop of Fairbanks. The diocese covers over 409,000 square miles of Alaska’s northern region, or about two-thirds of the entire state. It is the largest U.S. diocese geographically.

In New Ulm, he succeeds Bishop John M. LeVoir, who resigned Aug. 6, 2020, after heading the diocese for 12 years. He was 74 and just a few months shy of 75, the age when bishops are required by canon law to turn in their resignation to the pope.

Zielinski’s appointment was announced July 12 in Washington by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the U.S.