South Dakota Bishop Is Convert, Lawyer

VATICAN CITY, AUG. 31, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI appointed Father Paul Swain -- who converted to Catholicism after being a prominent lawyer in the United States -- as bishop of Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

The Vatican press office made the announcement today.

Paul Swain was born on Sept. 12, 1943, into a Methodist family.

He studied political science at Ohio Northern University, and received his law degree in 1974 from the University of Wisconsin.

Between 1967 and 1971, he served as an air intelligence officer in Vietnam, meriting the Vietnam Veteran Bronze Star.

During his professional career, he began his period of conversion to Catholicism; he was received into the Catholic Church in 1982.

He began to study for the priesthood in 1983 at the Pope John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts, and was ordained in 1988.

At present he is vicar general of the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, and rector of St. Raphael's Cathedral.