NEW YORK (CNS) -- Bishop Javier Echevarria Rodriguez, head of Opus Dei worldwide, has named Father Thomas G. Bohlin as vicar for the prelature in the United States.

Father Arne Panula, who served in that position since 1998, is now the regional spiritual director for the United States.

Father Bohlin, a 48-year-old native of New Jersey, has worked for the last five years in Rome as chancellor at the prelature's headquarters. He holds doctorates in moral theology from the University of the Holy Cross in Rome and in U.S. history from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

"I am enthusiastic about the possibilities for Opus Dei's service to the church in the United States," he said. "Lay people have a privileged role in the evangelization of culture and secular life. Opus Dei can help people discover what that means."

There are 1,788 priests and 82,715 lay members of Opus Dei worldwide. About 3,000 of them are in the United States..