FORT WAYNE — The Vatican has announced that Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of the Diocese of Harrisburg in Pennsylvania will succeed retiring Bishop John M. D'Arcy as leader of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend.

D'Arcy on Aug. 18, 2007 turned 75, the age at which the Roman Catholic Church law requires a bishop to offer a letter of resignation to the pope.

D'Arcy and Rhoades held a small Mass on Saturday morning at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne, and greeted parishioners afterward.

Rhoades' official installment as bishop of the northern Indiana diocese, which has nearly 158,000 members in 14 counties, will be Jan. 13.

"It's a testament to the regard the Holy Father has for this diocese to send us someone who's had five years as a bishop of a diocese larger than this, and it shows the church is going to continue," D'Arcy said of the 51-year-old Rhoades after the Mass.

"Of course there's a touch of sadness. I've loved being bishop here, every moment of it."

Leader of the northern Indiana diocese for 24 years, D'Arcy was a nationally recognized leader in efforts to eliminate sexual abuse in the church.

He announced in 2003 that he had removed 12 of 17 priests in the diocese had apparently molested about 33 people, mostly minors, since 1950. The rest had either died or left the priesthood.

D'Arcy made headlines when he skipped the University of Notre Dame's May commencement to protest an appearance by President Barack Obama, who supports abortion rights. Obama received an honorary degree from Notre Dame, one of five Catholic colleges and universities within the diocese.

D'Arcy was born in Boston, was ordained a priest in 1957 and served as a parish priest in the Boston area for nine years. In 1975, he was ordained an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Boston. D'Arcy was installed as bishop of the Fort Wayne-South Bend diocese May 1, 1985.