Phoenix ? The newly appointed bishop of the scandal-ridden Catholic Diocese of Phoenix said he would give sexual abuse allegations against priests the attention they deserved.

Thomas Olmsted, the bishop of the Wichita, Kan., Diocese, will replace Bishop Thomas O’Brien, who resigned in June after a tenure that ended with allegations of abuse by priests and his arrest in a fatal hit-and-run case.

Olmsted was appointed Tuesday by Pope John Paul II as the leader of 430,000 Catholics in Arizona. His installation as bishop of Phoenix is scheduled for Dec. 20.

Olmsted said he knew little about sexual abuse allegations in the Phoenix diocese but thought victims deserved apologies.

“I think that we have to, in the church, be working for healing and reconciliation,” Olmsted said.

The diocese was thrown into turmoil in June after prosecutors announced an immunity deal with O’Brien that spared the church leader indictment on obstruction charges for protecting priests accused of child molestation.

Already facing heavy criticism for the deal, O’Brien resigned after he was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident involving a pedestrian.

O’Brien, bishop of the diocese since 1981, didn’t report the accident to police but told investigators he didn’t realize he had hit a person. His trial is expected to begin Jan. 12.

The Rev. Richard McBrien, a theologian at the University of Notre Dame, said Olmsted must show that he wants to solve the diocese’s problems and is open to all people.

“If he comes across as rigid or judgmental or simply a company man, he’ll please some but turn off many others,” McBrien said. “If he is kind, compassionate, fair-minded and open to points of view other than his own, he’ll do very well.”