The Catholic bishop in Bermuda is to retire, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

Robert Kurtz, the Bishop of Hamilton, is to be replaced by Polish priest Father Wieslaw “Wesley” Spiewak, who is serving in his homeland at present as the provincial superior of the Polish province of the Congregation of the Resurrection.

Bishop Kurtz, 75, a member of the Catholic Order the Congregation of the Resurrection, said he had reached the retirement age for bishops in the Catholic Church and would be returning to his native Chicago after the new bishop is ordained in October.

“I have to confess when I take walks now I often think what it’s going to be like walking the inner city streets of Chicago compared to Elbow Beach,” he added.

“There will be nostalgia for Bermuda and also for the many good people I have met here.”

Bishop Kurtz, the first Catholic bishop in Bermuda to be ordained in St Theresa’s Cathedral, said he knew Fr Spiewak, 51, who had attended the Congregation of the Resurrection seminary in Rome when he was Superior General.

He added: “Fr Wesley was among the first students; many of those students have now become leaders in the Congregation in different parts of the world.”

Fr Spiewak has been the provincial superior of the Polish Province for six years, and also had responsibility for resurrectionist houses in Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Slovakia and Ukraine.

He has also visited resurrectionist priests working in Bermuda, Canada, the United States and Tanzania.

Fr Spiewak was ordained in 1990 after earning a Bachelor of Theology degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and his Master’s degree from the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Kracow.

In a letter read out at masses across the Island today, Bishop Kurtz said: “I have known Fr Wesley since his student days in Rome. He is fluent in English and Italian as well as his native Polish.

“I can assure you that he is a good priest, a good religious and a good man.

“I firmly believe that Fr Wesley will also be a good bishop, dedicated to serving the Catholic Church in Bermuda.”

There are more than 9,000 Catholics spread across six parishes in Bermuda, the second-largest denomination after the Anglican Church.

Bishop Kurtz offered some advice to his successor. “I would say be patient, be careful, take it easy and make every effort to love the people and learn the culture of Bermuda,” he said.

“Fr Wesley is a young person and the greatest challenge is communicating with the younger generation, which is a major problem for the Church.”

But he added: “I have great hope for the Church and great hope for Bermuda — and it’s not all based on the America’s Cup.”