Francis Malone

Francis Ignatius Malone is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop for the Diocese of Shreveport in Louisiana since 2019.

Biography

Early life

Francis Malone was born on September 1, 1950, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended the University of Dallas in Dallas, Texas, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1973 and a Master of Divinity and a Master of Education in 1977.

Priesthood

On May 21, 1977, Malone was ordained to the priesthood at the Church of Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Philadelphia by Bishop Andrew McDonald for the Diocese of Little Rock. The diocese assigned Malone at the following parishes in Arkansas:

Associate pastor at St. Michael Parish in West Memphis and Sacred Heart of Jesus in Crawfordville
Associate pastor of Our Lady of the Holy Souls in Little Rock and pastor of Holy Cross in Sheridan. He was also named to the faculty of Mount St. Mary Academy in Little Rock.
Associate pastor at St. Patrick at North Little Rock
Associate pastor at St. Vincent de Paul in Rogers and priest in charge at St. John in Huntsville. He also served as chaplain at Rogers Memorial Hospital in Rogers.
Associate pastor at Immaculate Conception in North Little Rock

In 1985, the diocese assigned Malone as pastor of Mary of the Mount Parish in Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas and St. Michael Parish in Cherokee Village, Arkansas. In 1987, Malone entered the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he received a Licentiate of Canon Law in 1989. After returning to Little Rock, he was named moderator of Cursillo and rector of the Cathedral of St. Andrew in that city.
In 1990, Bishop Andrew McDonald appointed Malone as chancellor and vice officialis. He left the cathedral in 1996 to become pastor of Immaculate Conception and St. Anne Parishes in North Little Rock. After five years at these two parishes, the diocese assigned him as pastor of Christ the King Parish in Little Rock.

Bishop of Shreveport

Pope Francis appointed Malone to become the third bishop of Shreveport on November 19, 2019. On January 28, 2020, Malone was consecrated as a bishop at the Shreveport Convention Center in Shreveport, Louisiana. Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond served as the principal consecrator. Bishops Anthony B. Taylor and Michael G. Duca served as co-consecrators.
In 2023, Malone gave his support to the canonization cause for the Shreveport Martyrs. They were five French missionary priests who traveled to Shreveport in 1873 to aid the sick during a yellow fever epidemic. All five men died of yellow fever.