Erection of the ecclesiastical province of Las Vegas, U.S.A., and appointment of the first metropolitan archbishop

The Holy Father has erected the ecclesiastical province of Las Vegas, United States of America, elevating the diocese of Las Vegas to a metropolitan Church and assigning as suffragans the dioceses of Reno and Salt Lake City.

The Holy Father has appointed Bishop George L. Thomas of Las Vegas as the first metropolitan archbishop of Las Vegas, United States of America.

Curriculum vitae

Archbishop-elect George L. Thomas was born in Anaconda in the diocese of Helena, Montana, on 19 May 1950. He attended Saint Thomas Seminary in Seattle, Washington, and holds a master’s degree in psychology and a degree in history.

He was ordained a priest for the archdiocese of Seattle on 22 May 1976.

He has held the following offices: deputy parish priest of Holy Family in Kirkland (1976-1987) and Saint James Cathedral. In the same years he served as chaplain of the state prison. In 1987 he was appointed parish administrator of Sacred Heart in Bellevue and chancellor and vicar general of Seattle. In 1996 he was elected diocesan administrator of Seattle.

He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Seattle and titular of Vagrauta on 19 November 1999, receiving episcopal consecration on 28 January 2000.

On 23 March 2004 he was transferred to the see of Helena, Montana, taking office the following 4 June.

On 28 February 2018 he was transferred to the diocese of Las Vegas, Nevada, and took possession on 15 May 2018.

Statistical data of the new ecclesiastical province