Cleveland Public Library will present The Most Rev. Richard Gerard Lennon, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland as its keynote speaker for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day commemorative celebration. The FREE and open to the public program will be held Monday, January 15, 1:00 p.m. at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Branch, 1962 Stokes Boulevard. The CPL Staff Chorus will perform. Freedom, A Visual Arts Exhibition, sponsored by The Arts League of Michigan, the First Congregational Church of Detroit, Michigan, and from a generous grant from The Ford Motor Company Fund, will be available to patrons. A reception will immediately follow the program.  The Branch will be open from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 p.m.

The Most Rev. Richard Gerard Lennon was installed as the 10th Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio on May 15, 2006. His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Lennon to the leadership position over nearly 800,000 Catholics in eight counties of Northeast Ohio on April 4, 2006. A native of the Boston area, the 59-year-old Bishop Lennon was born in Arlington, Massachusetts, graduated from Catholic High School, and then attended Boston College before entering St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts, where he received an M.A. in Church History and a M.TH in Sacramental Theology.

Bishop Lennon was ordained to the priesthood in May, 1973 and served in the Archdiocese of Boston as a parish priest, Fire Department Chaplain, an Assistant for Canonical Affairs, and Rector of St. John’s Seminary. Ordained as an Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Boston on September 14, 2001, Bishop Lennon also was called upon to serve as Apostolic Administrator for the Archdiocese from December, 2002 to July, 2003, when the Vatican appointed a new Archbishop to lead in Boston.

Among the special recognitions Bishop Lennon has received are: being named a Domestic Prelate, installed as a Knight of Malta, and as a Knight of the Holy Sepulchre. For more information, call (216) 623-2869.

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