The Archdiocese of Chicago will say goodbye to its second auxiliary bishop in six months when Bishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller becomes the sixth archbishop of San Antonio Nov. 23. Archbishop-designate Garcia-Siller, 53, will succeed Archbishop Jose Gomez in the Texas archdiocese. Gomez became coadjutor of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in May. The appointment was announced Oct. 14. In June, the Archdiocese of Chicago bade farewell to Bishop Thomas Paprocki, who became bishop of Springfield. Cardinal George offered blessings to both the new archbishop and the Archdiocese of San Antonio. “Even as we in the archdiocese offer our best wishes and prayers for Archbishop-elect Garcia, I want also to congratulate the priests, religious men and women and the lay faithful of the Archdiocese of San Antonio,” Cardinal George said in a statement. “They are being given a pastor of exceptional spirituality and integrity of heart. Bishop Gustavo will be sorely missed in the Archdiocese of Chicago. His ministry with us has been pastorally fruitful, and his presence among us has been a blessing.” At an awards ceremony for laypeople Oct. 17, the cardinal joked that whoever replaces the archbishop-designate will have to know how to give hugs — something Archbishop-designate Garcia- Siller has become known for, along with his warm pastoral manner. In his press conference in San Antonio Oct. 14, the new Archbishop Gustavo, as he is becoming known, briefly discussed his ministry in Chicago. “I have many, many, many friends there, and I have a profound gratitude to the church of Chicago,” he said. “Chicago formed my heart as a bishop and I hope to share with you what I have received.” Archbishop-designate Garcia- Siller was ordained a bishop for Chicago on March 19, 2003. Since then, he has led Vicariate V, taking in a wide swath of the Southwest Side of Chicago and the Southwest suburbs. It is the archdiocese’s most populous vicarate, with approximately 500,000 Catholics in 79 parishes. The Mexican-born bishop also has served as Cardinal George’s liaison to the Hispanic Catholic community. He started Centro Espiritu Santo in Vicariate V in 2005 to offer formation for leaders — priests, deacons and laypeople — who are ministering to Hispanic Catholics. “He is a pastor, priest, bishop with vision and he cared about helping people articulate their needs grounded in Christ,” said Peter Ductram, director of the center. “That is one of the best gifts that he provided to Vicariate V. Centro Espiritu Santo was one outcome of that effective ‘articulation of needs’ and prophetic vision. CES became the symbol of intentional pastoral thinking and action.” But more than being a good administrator, Ductram said, the new archbishop is a prayerful pastor, he said. The archbishop-designate was born in San Luis Potosi, the oldest of 15 children in his family, and entered the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit in Mexico City at age 18. He studied in Guadalajara, Mexico, and at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, Calif., and was ordained in Guadalajara in 1984. He holds masters degrees in philosophy, theology and psychology. He served as a spiritual director, teacher and director of formation for several years, and he served in pastoral ministry in Califonia for six years and he served in the Archdiocese of Portland, Ore., for three years. He also spent three years in Alaska. A U.S. citizen, he became the superior for his community in the United States in 1999 and was named the first provincial of the new U.S. province in January 2003 — only days before he learned he was going to be made a bishop in Chicago. Cardinal George told him of his appointment to San Antonio while they were at prayer in the cardinal’s chapel. Archbishop-designate Garcia-Siller said he “felt a sense of gratitude for the opportunity to serve the people of the archdiocese.” “I felt real happiness and joy tempered by a deep awareness of the great responsibility I had been asked to embrace,” he said in a statement.