Pope Names Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Garcia as Archbishop of San Antonio

WASHINGTON (October 14, 2010) — Pope Benedict XVI has named Auxiliary Bishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller of Chicago, 53, Archbishop of San Antonio.

Archbishop-designate Garcia-Siller, a native of Mexico, is a member of the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit. He was superior of the congregation’s United States and Canadian province, “Cristo Sacerdote,” when he was named an auxiliary bishop of Chicago in 2003.

The appointment to San Antonio was publicized in Washington, October 14, by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Gustavo Garcia-Siller was born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, on December 21, 1956. In 1973, he entered the Holy Spirit Congregation in Mexico City. He studied at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, California, and the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and holds master of arts degrees in philosophy, divinity and psychology. He was ordained in Guadalajara, June 22, 1984.

He served at St. Joseph’s Parish in Selma, California, from 1984-1988, and then studied at Western Jesuit University, Guadalajara. From 1994-1999, he was rector of houses of studies of his order in Lynwood and Long Beach, California; and in Portland, Oregon. From 1999 to 2002, he was Rector of the theologate house of his congregation in Oxnard, California, and also served
in three parishes in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. He was named superior of the Holy Spirit Congregation’s province in 2002. As a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he has served as a member of the Subcommittees on African-American Affairs and Hispanic Affairs.

The Archdiocese of San Antonio comprises 23,180 square miles. It has a total population of 2,315,988 people, of whom 702,547, or 30 percent, are Catholic.