Univision 41
October 14, 2010
http://univision41.univision.com/noticias/local/article/2010-10-14/nuevo-arzobispo-en-san-antonio
[with video]
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| Gustavo Garcia-Siller, Archbishop of San Antonio on Thursday, Helene Deuley salutes after his presentation at a press conference closed to the public. |
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| Garcia-Siller was an auxiliary bishop in Chicago, where he directed 82 parishes. |
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| Garcia-Siller will hold its first awards ceremony on November 23 at a venue yet to be defined. |
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| Garcia-Siller is the largest of 15 brothers and lead the archdiocese in a city where one in every two people is Catholic. |
SAN ANTONIO - San Antonio has a new archbishop is a place where one of every two people are Catholics, one of the first mysteries about his future administration is how to assume their role in cases of pedophilia that have tarnished the Vatican.
"Of course it's not just a problem of the Catholic Church," said Gustavo Garcia-Siller, a 53 year old Mexican priest that Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday named as the new leader of the Archdiocese of this city.
"It is a problem in our society and our world," he added. "Efforts have been made and are making are to promote healing and reconciliation of different levels and we will continue doing whatever is necessary for healing to reach people who have been damaged."
From Chicago
In Chicago, where he served as auxiliary bishop since 2003, Garcia-Siller was known for directing 82 parishes and, among other virtues, by their silence and inaction in several cases of pedophilia in the management of the archbishop of that city.
"Garcia-Siller remained silent while the archbishop was acting recklessly," said David Closhessy, director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, a support group for victims of priests. "We believe that talking is a moral obligation if your boss is putting children at risk."
Management's turbulent archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Francis George, has been repeatedly tarnished by the suspension of priests accused of sexually abusing children and the arrest of any of them, like Father Daniel McCormack, who was accused of molesting three children and then suspended.
The sixth archbishop
Strapless black dress with collar, Garcia-Siller was introduced Thursday as the sixth archbishop of San Antonio in a meeting closed to the public, attended by 50 people, mostly members of religious groups and the media. Catholic television broadcast presentation.
A Garcia-Siller will be noticed very relaxed, hitting his right hand in the air with fans who approached him to say hello.
Garcia-Siller said he received the news by Cardinal Francis George, "who invited me to his chapel and in a climate of prayer will gave Pope Benedict XVI."
In a statement, the Archdiocese of San Antonio said the official designation came at 5 am, noon at the Vatican.
The new archbishop of San Antonio was born on December 21, 1956 in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. In 1973, he entered the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit, in Mexico City, and in 1975 he took the vows.
Between 1975 and 1978, Garcia-Siller studied philosophy at the Institute of Philosophy, Guadalajara (Mexico) and between 1980 and 1984 he studied theology at the Saint John Seminary in Camarillo, California.
He was ordained in Guadalajara in 1984 by the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit and has served as parochial vicar in California in Selma, rector of the House of Studies of their congregation in Lynwood and Long Beach.
Garcia-Siller replaces Joseph H. Gomez, who was appointed archbishop of Los Angeles in April. His public appearance in his new role is scheduled for 23 November.
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