Originally ordained for the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas, in his years as a priest, the Most Reverend James D. Conley has served the Catholic Church in a wide variety of ways—as pastor, college campus chaplain, director of Respect Life ministries, theology instructor and a Vatican official. On April 10, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI named him auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Denver and he was ordained on May 30, 2008. On September 14, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Conley as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Lincoln in Nebraska. Bishop Conley was installed on November 20, 2012, in the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln.