HARRISBURG -- There will be a new bishop installed Wednesday in the Diocese of Harrisburg.
Bishop Ronald Gainer is a Pottsville native and he will become the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg.
The installation ceremony begins at 2 p.m. and once that mass is over, Bishop Ronald Gainer will officially oversee a quarter of a million parishioners in 15 counties. That includes Catholics in Columbia, Montour, Snyder, Union and Northumberland Counties.
Bishop Ronald Gainer was introduced in January as the 11th bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg. He was born and raised in Pottsville and told Newswatch 16 he is proud to be a "coal cracker."
It is a homecoming for Bishop Gainer who served as the bishop of Lexington, Kentucky for the last 11 years and served the Diocese of Allentown for almost 30 years.
He says he is delighted to be back in Pennsylvania.
Bishop Gainer graduated from Mary Queen of Peace grade school and Nativity Of The Blessed Virgin Mary High School in Pottsville. Bishop Gainer was named by Pope Francis to take over the Diocese of Harrisburg following the death of Bishop Joseph McFadden last May.