Bishop James V. Johnston Jr. Installed as Diocese Leader

Bishop James V. Johnston Jr. has been installed as the new leader of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.

Johnston gave a 20-minute homily Wednesday to a packed audience at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. He called on the local church to "constantly return to repentance and belief" in order to move forward from its past mistakes.

The Kansas City Star reports that Pope Francis named 56-year-old Johnston in September to succeed Bishop Robert W. Finn, who resigned as leader of the diocese in April. Finn's departure came three years after he was convicted of failing to report a priest's suspected child abuse.

Johnston was previously the bishop of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau in southern Missouri.