Douglas Lucia


Douglas John Lucia is an American prelate of the Catholic Church and the current bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse.

Biography

Lucia was born in Plattsburgh, New York. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Ogdensburg in 1989. He holds a Masters of Divinity degree from Christ the King Seminary. He studied canon law in Rome from 1997–1999 at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas and served in a number of roles in the Diocese of Ogdensburg including secretary to the bishop, Vice Chancellor and Director of Vocations.

Bishop of Syracuse

named him to succeed Robert J. Cunningham in Syracuse on June 4, 2019. On August 8, 2019, Lucia was consecrated as a bishop by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Bishop Terry R. LaValley and Bishop Robert J. Cunningham and installed in the Syracuse diocese..
In June 2020 Lucia announced that he had decided for the diocese of Syracuse to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it struggled to deal with the cost of the lawsuits of hundreds of cases of sexual abuse allegations. Lucia claimed that he made the decision to file for bankruptcy to make sure the diocese would not become broke and to ensure that all the alleged victims got something for their lawsuits, although some lawyers of the plaintiffs criticized the decision saying that the diocese was seeking to avoid the lawsuits.