CNS STORY: Pope creates new Texas archdiocese, transfers three bishops

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BISHOPS (UPDATED) Dec-29-2004 (950 words) With file photos. xxxn

Pope creates new Texas archdiocese, transfers three bishops

By Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II has elevated the Diocese of Galveston-Houston to an archdiocese, appointed three bishops to new posts and accepted the resignation of Archbishop Patrick F. Flores of San Antonio.

The announcements were made Dec. 29 in Washington by Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The bishops receiving new posts are:

-- Auxiliary Bishop Jose H. Gomez of Denver, who was named to replace Archbishop Flores in San Antonio.

-- Bishop Robert J. Carlson of Sioux Falls, S.D., who was named to head the Diocese of Saginaw, Mich., replacing Bishop Kenneth E. Untener, who died March 27.

-- Auxiliary Bishop Jerome E. Listecki of Chicago who was named head of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wis., left vacant in December 2003 when its leader was named to head the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

With the elevation of Galveston-Houston to an archdiocese, Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza becomes an archbishop and Bishop Daniel N. DiNardo, named coadjutor bishop of Galveston-Houston last January, becomes coadjutor archbishop.

The resignation of Mexican-American Archbishop Flores, a pioneer in Hispanic ministry, reduces the number of active Hispanic bishops to 24. While a member of the hierarchy, the archbishop has seen the leadership role of Hispanics in the U.S. church grow. When Archbishop Flores was named auxiliary bishop of San Antonio in 1970, he was the only active Hispanic bishop.

Archbishop Flores turned 75, the normal retirement age for bishops, July 26. He was born in Ganado, Texas, in 1929 and ordained a priest in 1956 for what was then the Diocese of Galveston. After serving eight years as a San Antonio auxiliary bishop, he was named bishop of El Paso, Texas, in 1978. He became San Antonio archbishop in 1979.

Archbishop Flores has been a leading voice in social justice issues, especially immigrant rights. In 2003, he joined six other Texas bishops in asking the U.S. and Mexican governments to restart negotiations aimed at relaxing restrictions against Mexican immigration into the United States.

In June 2000, he forgave a Salvadoran immigrant who held him and his secretary hostage for several hours in the hopes the archbishop could help him resolve legal problems.

He also pledged to help the Salvadoran's wife and children if they needed financial aid and said the incident would not change his open approach to working with the poor.

Archbishop Flores also promoted greater lay responsibility in the church. At a 1989 meeting between U.S. church leaders and top Vatican officials, he contrasted the participatory nature of U.S. political life with church life, "which for a long time expected Catholics to limit their involvement to paying and praying only."

Archbishop Gomez was born in Monterrey, Mexico, and turned 53 Dec. 26. In 1978 he was ordained a priest for the Prelature of Opus Dei. When he was ordained as auxiliary bishop of Denver in 2001, he became the only Opus Dei bishop in the United States.

Archbishop Gomez also has been involved in Hispanic issues and helped organize a seminary in Mexico City for Hispanic students from the United States and Canada, who would then return to those countries to minister in Hispanic areas.

In a 2002 column in the Denver Catholic Register, archdiocesan newspaper, he told Hispanics not to forget their Catholic heritage. He added that the time has come for the Hispanic community to leave "its indelible mark on our nation."

Downplaying the Catholic aspect of Hispanic life, however, for fear of rejection in a pluralistic U.S. culture is a mistake, he said. "Religious freedom does not change the fact that Hispanic culture was born and developed in the Catholic faith."

Bishop Carlson, 60, goes to Saginaw after having been involved in the controversies regarding Catholic voters and politicians favoring legal abortion.

In an August column in The Bishop's Bulletin, Sioux Falls diocesan monthly, he said that "you cannot on one hand support abortion rights and on the other be a Catholic in good standing."

In the column, he reiterated his 2000 statement "that you cannot vote for a politician who is pro-abortion when you have a choice and remain a Catholic in good standing."

For several years, Bishop Carlson also tried unsuccessfully to convince then-South Dakota Sen. Thomas Daschle, Democratic Party leader in the Senate, to reconsider his support for legalized abortion. Daschle, a Catholic, was defeated in 2004.

Bishop Carlson was born June 30, 1944, in Minneapolis. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1970 for the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis and named auxiliary bishop of St. Paul-Minneapolis in 1983.

In 1984, he was named coadjutor bishop of Sioux Falls and became bishop the following year.

Detroit Cardinal Adam J. Maida praised Bishop Carlson for his work with young people and in promoting vocations. Cardinal Maida said Bishop Carlson will be installed as Saginaw bishop on Feb. 24.

Bishop Listecki, 55, has been a Chicago auxiliary bishop for four years and was praised by Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George as "a faithful and faith-filled man whose presence and ministry enriched our lives."

In 2002, Bishop Listecki was appointed to a seven-member bishops' task force to develop mechanisms by which bishops can exercise better oversight on each other in the aftermath of the clergy sex abuse crisis.

Bishop Listecki was born March 12, 1949, in Chicago and was ordained a priest in 1973 for the Chicago Archdiocese. He was named a Chicago auxiliary bishop in 2000.

He holds degrees in civil and canon law and is a retired lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves.

The La Crosse Diocese had been headed by Bishop Raymond L. Burke who on Dec. 2, 2003, was named archbishop of St. Louis.

END

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