Ronald Paul Herzog

Ronald Paul Herzog (April 22, 1942 – April 12, 2019) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, who served as Bishop of Alexandria in central Louisiana from 2005 to 2017.

Biography
He was born in Akron, Ohio. A child of a marriage of mixed faiths, his parents were a Lutheran and a Catholic. He studied at St. Joseph Seminary in Covington, Louisiana, and at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 1, 1968.

He did pastoral work in the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson, Mississippi, but was later incardinated into the Diocese of Biloxi on March 1, 1977, and served as pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Lumberton, Mississippi, and the Saint Joseph Church and Mission in Poplarville, Mississippi. Herzog was director of the diocesan Office of Liturgy from 1980 to 1985. He was later raised to the rank of monsignor, and became pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Laurel in 1988. He also served as chaplain of the National Guard, holding the rank of brigadier general.

On November 4, 2004, Herzog was appointed Bishop of Alexandria, Louisiana, by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on January 5, 2005, from Archbishop Alfred Hughes, with Bishops Thomas Rodi and Robert Muench serving as co-consecrators. He selected as his episcopal motto, "One In The Lord."

In 2013, Herzog released a statement regarding a retired Alexandria priest named Frederick James Lyons. Lyons had been accused of sexually abusing minors during his early life as a priest. Herzog suspended Lyons from all priestly functions in 2006 and his case had been sent to Rome for examination. Lyons, in his late 80s at the time, was prohibited from acting as a priest, but not stripped of his priesthood. In his 2013 statement, Herzog asked for "your prayers for all who are affected by these accusations: victims, their families, our church and the accused."

Herzog suffered a stroke in February 2014, with his left side affected. Herzog underwent extensive physical and occupation therapy, eventually submitting his resignation in 2016.

On September 21, 2016, Pope Francis named David Talley, auxiliary bishop of Atlanta, as Bishop Coadjutor of Alexandria. Talley succeeded Herzog as Bishop of Alexandria on February 2, 2017. Herzog died on April 12, 2019, at the age of 76 after a brief illness.

He was the Catholic Chairman of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Consultation. Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he was a member of the Committee on Divine Worship, Committee on National Collections, and the Subcommittee on Native American Catholics.