SYRACUSE -- The Most Rev. Bishop Robert Cunningham assumed his role as the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse Tuesday with a call to his followers to lead a holy life and protect the unborn.

"The universal call to holiness is our common vocation," Cunningham said in his homily during a sacred Liturgy of Installation at Syracuse's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

"Today, we dedicate ourselves once more to that common call in all that we do, especially in our defense of the most basic of all human rights, the right to life," the new bishop told an audience of nearly 1,000.

"This is our task. It is the challenge of love and peace ... upholding the protection of human life and the dignity of the human person. In embracing the gospel of life, we will find ourselves on the path leading to holiness," Cunningham said.

Cunningham was installed as Syracuse bishop by Archbishop Timothy Dolan, 59, who was installed April 15 as the spiritual leader of the Archdiocese of New York.

Pope Benedict XVI named Cunningham as Syracuse's 10th bishop on April 21. He succeeds Bishop James Moynihan, who served since May 29, 1995, and is retiring. The seven-county diocese has more than 250,000 Catholics.

Cunningham, 65, is a native of Buffalo and was appointed bishop of Ogdensburg in northern New York in 2004. He was ordained a priest in 1969.

Among the guests were 250 priests and 24 bishops, Cardinal Edward Egan, the former Archbishop of New York City, and Archbishop Pietro Sambi, who represented the Vatican.

In a news conference before the ceremony, Cunningham said the church will not soften its teachings in order to attract parishioners. He reinforced the Catholic Church's opposition to gay marriage and women's ordination.

"If you're a believing, practicing Catholic, you accept the teaching of the church," he said.