Pope Francis on Monday appointed Bishop Michael McGovern of Belleville to lead the Archdiocese of Omaha, Neb., after he accepted the resignation of Omaha Archbishop George Lucas.

McGovern, 60, has led the Diocese of Belleville since April 2020. The Chicago native will be installed as archbishop of Omaha in the Cathedral of St. Cecilia on May 7.

He succeeds Lucas, who submitted his resignation when he turned 75 in June 2024 as required by canon law. Lucas has led the Archdiocese of Omaha since 2009.

The Omaha Archdiocese is roughly 14,000 square miles with a population of about 1 million, of which over 240,000 residents are Catholic.

“Our Holy Father Pope Francis has appointed me as the sixth Archbishop of Omaha. I accept his nomination with gratitude and humility and thank him for the confidence he has placed in me,” Bishop McGovern stated in a letter to the Belleville Diocese. “I am very grateful to the clergy and faithful of southern Illinois for their support and the many ways they have shared their faith with me over the past five years. I hope that the work we have done together in the Belleville Diocese will yield an increase in the active participation of Catholic faithful and an increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life.”

No replacement for McGovern as Belleville’s bishop has been named at this time.