SPOKANE -- Bishop Blase Cupich was installed as the sixth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane Friday.
Bishop Cupich comes from Rapid City, South Dakota, where he was the head of the Diocese there for the last 12 years.
The 61-year-old Cupich was appointed to the Spokane Catholic Diocese in June to replace retiring Bishop William Skylstad, former head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Bishop Cupich will take over an office that has been financially battered by the priest sex abuse scandal.
The ceremony took place in McCarthey Athletic Center on the Gonzaga University campus, where nearly every seat was filled. In attendance were 38 arch bishops from across the country, heads of 17 Catholic schools, 120 priests, and hundreds of Gonzaga students.
Representatives from the Vatican were also in attendance.
