Cardinal Cupich ordained Bishops Timothy J. O’Malley, Lawrence J. Sullivan, José María Garcia-Maldonado, Robert M. Fedek and John S. Siemianowski in front of a standing-room-only congregation at Holy Name Cathedral Feb. 26.

The 2½-hour liturgy combined solemnity with hope and joy as the as the Archdiocese of Chicago welcomed its newest auxiliary bishops during the Jubilee Year of Hope.

It began with a procession that included interfaith and ecumenical guests, seminarians, liturgical ministers, scores of priests and about two dozen bishops and archbishops, including Archbishop Jeffrey Grob of Milwaukee, until recently an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, and Archbishop-designate Robert Casey, who was vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago when he was named the new leader of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.

It ended with an announcement of the auxiliary bishops’ assignments, effective March 1. Bishop O’Malley leads Vicariate I, Bishop Siemianowski leads Vicariate II, Bishop Robert Lombardo continues to lead Vicariate III, Bishop Garcia-Maldonado leads Vicariate IV, Bishop Fedek leads Vicariate V, Bishop Mark Bartosic moves to Vicariate VI and Bishop Sullivan serves as vicar general.

In his homily, Cardinal Cupich preached on the Gospel text, taken from Chapter 4 of Luke, in which Jesus opens his public ministry by reading from the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth and saying, “Today this Scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk 4:21).

The word ‘today’ figures prominently in Luke’s Gospel, Cardinal Cupich said, emphasizing that Jesus is acting in the world now, just as he was 2,000 years ago, and the new bishops should follow Jesus in the direction he leads.

“Your ‘today,’ then, should always be rooted in the ‘today’ of Jesus,” Cardinal Cupich told the men about to be ordained bishops. “As he stood up to read from the prophet Isaiah in his hometown synagogue, he proclaimed fulfillment not of our plans, but of all that God has ever intended for the people. God’s plan has never been about making the rich richer, further empowering the powerful, or giving those with influence more sway. And so your ministry must be resolute in forming all those who claim the name ‘Christian’ to take up Christ’s mission of bringing good news to the poor, of proclaiming liberty to captives and a year of favor to the oppressed, ever urging the faithful to be vigilant lest the Gospel be compromised or replaced by the pursuit of earthly gain.” (Read the cardinal’s full homily on page 3.)

That, he said, is the path to living in hope, rather in “nostalgic fantasy” or “cheery optimism.”

Before the homily, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, read English translations of the letters Pope Francis wrote to the five men appointing them bishops. After reading them, he gave each of the bishops-elect his letter, and they carried their letters through the congregation before promising their fidelity to the mission of the church.

When they returned to sit in front of Cardinal Cupich, he delivered his homily. Then the men lay prostrate during a litany imploring the intercession of the saints and the mercy and help of God.

After the litany, Cardinal Cupich, his co-consecrators Archbishop Grob and Archbishop-designate Casey, and all of the bishops present laid their hands on the new bishops’ heads. That was followed by the prayer of consecration and the anointing of each new bishop’s head with chrism, a sign of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

After being anointed, each of the new bishops received the symbols of his office: the book of the Gospels, which represents the bishops’ ministry of preaching and teaching; and the ring, mitre and crosier.

Their ordination raises the number of active auxiliary bishops in the archdiocese from three to seven.

The new auxiliary bishops were all ordained priests for the Archdiocese of Chicago after completing their studies at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary.

Bishop O’Malley, 65, was ordained in 1997 and is pastor of Most Blessed Trinity in Waukegan. 

Homero Perez and his wife, Maria Soto, are parishioners at Most Blessed Trinity in Waukegan and members of the Camino Neocatechumenal. They took the day off work and were among the group holding a large sign congratulating Bishop O’Malley on the sidewalk in front of Holy Name Cathedral before the ordination Mass.

“This is a blessing from God,” Perez said, adding that Bishop O’Malley is a dedicated pastor, as well as an able administrator. “He’s always there for everybody, all the communities. I can see in him that he has the Spirit.”

Bishop Sullivan, 59, was ordained in 1992 and since 2013 served as associate priest director and as interim priest director of Catholic Cemeteries.

His brother-in-law Craig Casey and niece Julie Casey said Bishop Sullivan was a good choice.

“He’s a good leader,” Craig Casey said. “He’s very caring.”

“He’s a good listener,” Julie Casey added. “And he’s a good advocate for the church.”

Bishop Garcia-Maldonado, 45, was born in San Julián, Jalisco, Mexico, and attended seminary in Arandas, Jalisco, before immigrating to the U.S. and joining the Casa Jesus Program in Chicago. He was ordained in 2008.

His sister, Yolanda Garcia, said Garcia-Maldonado’s Family was all very excited by his appointment as a bishop. They weren’t shocked, she said, because Bishop Garcia-Maldonado has been devoted to the church since he was a child.

“He started this so young,” Garcia said. “We really felt this was his calling.”

Bishop Fedek, 45, was born in Bielsko-Biala, Poland, and studied at the Archdiocesan Theological Seminary in Kraków before moving to Chicago, where he continued his formation at the Bishop Abramowicz Preparatory Seminary and being ordained in 2005.

His parents and his brother, sister-in-law and two nephews came from Poland for the Mass.

Michal Fedek, Bishop Fedek’s younger brother, said the family was very emotional when they received the “beautiful information” that his brother was to be a bishop, and started packing.

“Since the beginning, he has been my older brother,” Michal Fedek said. “I took from him all the advantages younger brothers take from older brothers, and I tried to follow after him. He will be a good bishop.”

Bishop Siemianowski, 64, was ordained in 1989. His oldest sister, Linda Lopina, beamed from the front row of the cathedral during the mass.

“We are so proud of him,” she said. “This is a well-deserved honor for him. He is very committed, and so dedicated to the church.”

At the end of the Mass, the new bishops expressed a sense of overwhelming gratitude and joy as they greeted, blessed and posed for photos with family, friends and parishioners.