Pope Francis taps 3 new auxiliary bishops for Chicago Catholic archdiocese

By Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas
Chicago Tribune
July 3, 2018

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-3-new-auxiliary-bishops-appointed-20180703-story.html

Bishop Francis Kane is followed by Cardinal Francis George in procession at the start of services at Holy Name Cathedral in 2014. Kane and Bishop George Rassas both recently resigned their positions. Their successors were named July 3, 2018. Photo by Antonio Perez

The Vatican on Tuesday announced three auxiliary bishops have been appointed to the Archdiocese of Chicago, replacing two who retired.

Pope Francis tapped the Revs. Mark Bartosic, Robert Casey and Ronald Hicks as bishops-elect until their episcopal ordination at Holy Name Cathedral, the seat of the Catholic Church in Cook and Lake counties, on Sept. 17, according to the Archdiocese of Chicago.

In 2015, Hicks was appointed vicar general of the archdiocese by Cardinal Blase Cupich, Chicago’s archbishop; since then, he has been celebrating Mass at a different parish each weekend. For the past two years, Bartosic has served as pastor of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary church in Little Village and has been director of the Kolbe House Jail Ministry. Casey serves on the placement board of the archdiocese, which involves assigning priests to parishes.

The three bishops-elect are to replace George Rassas and Francis Kane, who, upon reaching retirement age, both submitted letters to the pope requesting resignation, according to Anne Maselli, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese. It’s not decided yet who will take over Rassas and Kane’s duties.

“We are blessed to have had the service of Bishops Rassas and Kane for so many years. They have made significant contributions both as priests and as episcopal vicars, and I express my gratitude for their ministry,” Cupich said in a news release from the archdiocese.

This isn’t the first time the trio of priests has made headlines. As Cupich pointed out: “The bishops-elect were seminary classmates and share a fluency and interest in Hispanic language and culture so vital in serving our parishioners.”

Maselli said the three bishops-elect all were in the same class at University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, graduating in 1994.

“They are friendly as brother priests,” she said.

Bartosic in 2006 was among a group of 13 priests who decided to fast during Lent, with the goal of not just growing spiritually, but also of showing solidarity with immigrants who come to this country for work and food.

Bartosic, then the pastor of St. Frances of Rome Catholic Church in Cicero, began his fast March 30, according to an interview that year.

"I wanted to fast to remind myself that I should be spiritually hungry for God," he said at the time. "But I'm also fasting for the people in my parish. This is the reason why they come here. They come because they're hungry."

Casey also was one of the priests who fasted and he was photographed by the Tribune during a 2006 news conference.

He additionally spoke to the Tribune in 2005 when archdiocese officials unveiled a new vision for parochial education in hopes of safeguarding Catholic schools from closure.

"There are no surprises," Casey said at the time. He was then pastor of Our Lady of Tepeyac in Little Village. "A pastor and a principal know what state their school is in. What the archdiocese is doing is trying to get us to be realistic. We've got to look at our situation and figure out how we're going to finance our school in the future."

"It's a question for the faithful," he added. "This is a time for people to decide: `Do I believe in Catholic education?' You could spend many years plugging up these holes, and it will distract you from that larger mission."

Hicks was featured in a Tribune project that asked several local priests what went into the decision to devote themselves to God. After graduating from Quigley South Preparatory Seminary and Niles College Seminary, he spent a year volunteering at an orphanage in Mexico.

"My life is going to be very rich and full because of the priesthood. It's not going to be any less of a life,” he said at the time.

"A great priest," he says, "is someone who is with his people, can understand his people, can relate things from the Bible and touch their hearts. Someone who is willing to walk in their shoes."

The Archdiocese of Chicago is the third largest in the United States, serving more than 2.2 million Catholics in 344 parishes in Cook and Lake counties.