A third Catholic bishop who had been considered a contender for Pittsburgh's open diocese has been appointed elsewhere.

Bishop Joseph Kurtz, 60, a Schuylkill County native who has led the Diocese of Knoxville, Tenn., since 1999, was named archbishop of Louisville, Ky. Longtime Louisville Archbishop Thomas Kelly had reached the retirement age of 75 in July.

Pittsburgh has been open since May 16, 2006, when Pope Benedict XVI named then-Bishop Donald Wuerl to the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C. There is no sign that his successor is imminent.

"We've heard nothing, that's for sure," said the Rev. Ronald Lengwin, spokesman for the Diocese of Pittsburgh.

That's about as much as anyone who actually knows anything can say publicly. The selection process takes place in strict secrecy. Names of those considered ripe for greater responsibility are surfaced within the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The papal nuncio to the U.S. also consults with bishops -- especially archbishops -- in the region where the opening is, and with select priests in the open diocese.

Eventually he selects three names and sends them to the Vatican's Congregation for Bishops, with a detailed report on each. The congregation vets the names, and, if not satisfied, can ask the nuncio for a new list. Eventually the congregation sends three names -- usually, but not always, those from the nuncio -- to the pope. The pope normally picks from those three but can choose whomever he wants.

Of eight bishops who the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette last year identified as certain to receive serious consideration for Pittsburgh, Bishop Kurtz is the third sent elsewhere. Bishop Kevin J. Farrell, 59, formerly an auxiliary in Washington, D.C., was named to Dallas in March. Bishop John C. Neinstedt, was named coadjutor -- an assistant with right of succession -- of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis in April.

Still on the list are Bishop Blase Cupich, 58, of Rapid City, S.D.; Bishop Joseph McFadden, 60, auxiliary of Philadelphia; Bishop Thomas Paprocki, 54, auxiliary of Chicago; Bishop Dennis Schnurr, 58, of Duluth, Minn.; and Bishop David Zubik, 57, of Green Bay, Wis., who is a former auxiliary of Pittsburgh.

That is not an official list but one compiled after consulting many people in and around the U.S. bishops who are in a position to know who is on the A-list. None of those people will speak for quotation. No bishop can talk about his potential reassignment even if he knows about it, which isn't always the case.

Some dark horses have surfaced through other sources. If the nuncio has consulted Pittsburgh priests, he has heard that auxiliary Bishop Paul Bradley has been doing an excellent job as administrator for the past year, and that the priests would choose him.

A source with ties to Rome says that the name of Bishop John Gaydos, 63, of Jefferson City, Mo., has been floated by at least one power broker there. The same goes for Bishop Robert Baker, 63, of Charleston, S.C. On the local front, Archabbot Douglas Nowicki, 62, of St. Vincent Archabbey gets buzz from Catholics involved with education, but the feedback from elsewhere is that the Benedictine Order wants to keep him in their own ranks.

There are several theories as to why the appointment is taking so long. Locally the most prevalent is that the diocese was in such good shape and Bishop Bradley is doing such a good job that there's no reason to hurry.

Most appointments have been taking a long time. There are eight vacant dioceses and another 10 whose bishops are past retirement age. Five of the latter and two of the former have been awaiting a new bishop for as long or longer than Pittsburgh. Three -- Detroit, Baltimore and New York -- have a cardinal.

Ecclesiastical musical chairs may be one reason to keep Pittsburgh on hold. For instance, Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee is considered a contender for both New York and Baltimore. If he moves, Bishop Zubik becomes a likely candidate for Milwaukee, so other posts for which he's a possibility might be postponed until Milwaukee's future is more clear.

"I suspect that they want to fill New York, Baltimore and Detroit, and then Pittsburgh becomes a consolation prize," said the Rev. Thomas Reese, senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center in Washington, D.C., who studies the Catholic hierarchy.

But there are other hypotheses, he said.

"One would be that there is a fight going on, with major players who disagree over who should go to Pittsburgh," he said.

It's possible that strong support for Bishop Bradley from the local clergy could be stalling someone who might be the choice of those higher up in the church.

"But the odds are always against the local guy," Father Reese said, adding that Archbishop Wuerl, a Pittsburgh native, spent much of his priesthood elsewhere.

"Very few dioceses have a bishop who was a priest in that diocese," he said.