WASHINGTON — Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Bishop Bernard J. Harrington, 75, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Winona, Minnesota, and has appointed as his successor Bishop John M. Quinn, 63, up until now Co-adjutor Bishop of Winona.

The appointment was announced in Washington Thursday by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Quinn, a native of Detroit, was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Detroit, March 17, 1972. He was named a monsignor in 1989, and an Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit, July 7, 2003. Last October he was named Co-adjutor Bishop of Winona.

Harrington, a native of Detroit, was named an Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit in 1993, and Bishop of Winona, Nov. 5, 1998.

Harrington will reside in Rochester and plans to continue his ministry with those in the Rochester medical facilities, and with the Hispanic populations in southern Minnesota. He took an extensive Spanish course in Mexico two years ago in order to better serve the Hispanic residents of the area.

The Winona Diocese includes 20 counties in Minnesota. The total population of the diocese is estimated at 570,488 people, with 131,280 of them Catholic.