Chicago bishop to lead Archdiocese of San Antonio

Pope Benedict XVI / Bishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller

Vatican City, Oct 14, 2010 / 11:54 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican announced on Thursday, October 14 that Bishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, 53, currently an auxiliary of Chicago, has been appointed by the Holy Father to become the new Archbishop of San Antonio, Texas.

“I felt a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to serve the people of the Archdiocese (of San Antonio),” said the archbishop-designate, recalling the moment he heard the news.

“I felt real happiness and joy tempered by a deep awareness of the great responsibility I had been asked to embrace. From the moment I said yes, I felt, in faith, a deep affection for the people of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.”

Archbishop of Chicago Francis Cardinal George responded to the appointment, saying, “I want to congratulate the priests, religious men and women and the lay faithful of the Archdiocese of San Antonio. They are being given a pastor of exceptional spirituality and integrity of heart. Bishop Gustavo will be sorely missed in the Archdiocese of Chicago.”

Archbishop-designate Garcia-Siller was born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico in 1956. Ordained a priest in 1984 and consecrated a bishop in 2003, he will succeed Archbishop José H. Gomez as the sixth archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

Apostolic administrator for San Antonio, Bishop Oscar Cantú noted, “I am delighted that the Holy Father sends us a shepherd who knows deeply the Good Shepherd; one who is passionate about his love for Jesus Christ, about his love for the Church, and about his love for his sheep.”

Bishop Garcia-Siller's installation as Archbishop of San Antonio is scheduled for November 23. He will serve 695,079 Catholics, 381 priests and 1,025 religious in his new archdiocese