Pope Francis has appointed a 1983 Bellarmine graduate, the Most Rev. Charles C. Thompson, to lead the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

The Archbishop-designate is currently Bishop of the Diocese of Evansville, Indiana, a position he’s held since 2011.

In 2013, Thompson was honored as a member of Bellarmine's Gallery of Distinguished Graduates.

As the seventh Archbishop of Indianapolis, Thompson will lead a Catholic community of 223,815 parishioners across 39 counties in central and southern Indiana, with 133 churches, 70 schools, 311 clergy and 411 sisters.

Born in Louisville in 1961, Thompson attended Moore High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Bellarmine in 1983. He earned a master of divinity degree from Saint Meinrad Seminary & School of Theology in Indiana and a graduate degree in canon law from Saint Paul University in Ottawa. 

He was ordained as a priest in Louisville in 1987 and served at several local parishes, including a decade at Holy Trinity prior to his appointment in Evansville.

At his introduction in Indianapolis today, Thompson joked, “I hope you can understand my Kentucky accent,” according to a report from WTTV-4. 

Bellarmine has a growing alumni community in central Indiana, with 240 Bellarmine graduates living in Indianapolis. More than 130 undergraduate students have come to Bellarmine from Indianapolis over the past five years.

In Indianapolis, Thompson succeeds Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, who became the Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, in January. His installation Mass takes place on July 28.