Administrator Of Archdiocese Elected

The Rev. George Thomas was chosen Friday to serve as administrator of the Seattle Archdiocese until the Vatican appoints a new Catholic archbishop.

Archbishop Thomas Murphy, who had leukemia, died of a brain hemorrhage on Thursday. It is not known how long it will take Pope John Paul II to name a successor to Murphy.

Thomas will oversee the day-to-day activities of the archdiocese.

He was elected by the archdiocesan board of consultors, a group of 10 priests.

Thomas, a native of Anaconda, Mont., was ordained in 1976 and has been a priest at Holy Family Catholic Church in Kirkland, St. James Cathedral in Seattle and Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bellevue.

He was appointed chancellor and vicar general of the archdiocese in 1988.