Gustavo Garcia-Siller, M.Sp.S. (born December 21, 1956) is a

Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He has been serving as archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Antonio in Texas since 2010. He served as an

auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of the

Archdiocese of Chicago The Archdiocese of Chicago () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church located in Northeastern Illinois, in the United States. The Vatican erected it as a diocese in 1843 and elevated it to an ar ...

in Illinois from 2003 to 2010.

Biography

Early life

The eldest of fifteen children, Gustavo Garcia-Siller was born on December 21, 1956, in

San Luis Potosí San Luis Potosí, officially the Free and Sovereign State of San Luis Potosí, is one of the 32 states which compose the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 59 municipalities and is named after its capital city, San Luis Potosí. It ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. He entered the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit religious order in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

in 1973. The Missionaries sent him to the United States in 1980 to minister to

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers ...

s in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. He also studied at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, California, obtaining

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

and

Master of Theology Master of Theology (, abbreviated ThM, MTh or MTheol, or ''Sacrae Theologiae Magister''; abbreviated STM) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a ...

degrees.

Priesthood

Garcia-Siller was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood for the Missionaries Order on June 22, 1984. The Missionaries then assigned him as an associate pastor at St. Joseph Parish in

Selma, California Selma is a city in Fresno County, California. The population was 24,674 at the 2020 census, up from 23,319 at the 2010 census and 19,240 at the 2000 census. Selma is located southeast of Fresno, at an elevation of 308 feet (94 m). Geograph ...

until 1988. He then furthered his studies at the

Western Institute of Technology and Higher Education ''ITESO, Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara'' — distinct from the University of Guadalajara — also known as ''Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente, ITESO'' (Western Institute of Technology and Higher Education), is a ...

(ITESO) in

Guadalajara, Mexico Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

, earning a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in psychology, and at the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

in Rome. Returning to the United States in 1990, Garcia-Siller was named as rector of the Holy Spirit Missionaries' houses of studies in Lynwood and

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, and in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. On December 15, 1998, Garcia-Siller became a citizen of the United States. In 1999, Garcia-Siller was appointed rector of the Missionaries theologate in

Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California, United States. On California's Central Coast (California), Central Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the List of largest California cities by populati ...

, also serving pastoral roles in three parishes of the

Archdiocese of Los Angeles The Archdiocese of Los Angeles (, ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church located in the southern coastal portion of the U.S. state of California. The archdiocese's cathedra is in Los Angeles, and the arc ...

. The Missionaries named him as

superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places * Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lak ...

of their

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

iate for the United States and Canada in 2002.

Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago

On January 24, 2003, Garcia-Siller was appointed

of Chicago and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of ''

Oescus Oescus, Palatiolon or Palatiolum (, ) was an important ancient city on the Danube river in Roman Moesia. It later became known as ''Ulpia Oescus''. It lay northwest of the modern Bulgarian city of Pleven, near the village of Gigen. For a ...

'' by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. He received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

on March 19, 2003, at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago from Cardinal

Francis George Francis Eugene George (January 16, 1937 – April 17, 2015) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the eighth archbishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago in Illinois (1997–2014) and previously served as bishop of the Dio ...

, with Bishops Raymond E. Goedert and Ricardo Urquidi serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

. As an auxiliary bishop, Garcia-Siller served as

episcopal vicar Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

for Vicariate V and the Cardinal's liaison to the

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

community.

Archbishop of San Antonio

On October 14, 2010,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

named Garcia-Siller to succeed José Gómez as Archbishop of San Antonio. His installation took place on November 23, 2010. Along with Gómez, he is one of the highest-ranking Mexican-American bishops in the United States. In March 2024, Garcia-Siller banned the Mission of Divine Mercy (MDM), a Catholic retreat house in

New Braunfels, Texas New Braunfels ( ) is a city in Comal County, Texas, Comal and Guadalupe County, Texas, Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Comal County. The city covers and had a population of 90,403 as of the 2020 United Sta ...

, and the priest who was running it. MDM had refused to delete a posting on its website in which a member said that God told him Pope Francis was a "usurper" and an "enemy of the Church".

References

External links

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia-Siller, Gustavo 1956 births Living people Mexican emigrants to the United States People from San Luis Potosí City St. John's Seminary (California) alumni Mexican Roman Catholic missionaries Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in the United States Religious leaders from Illinois Roman Catholic missionaries in the United States Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre 21st-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio Roman Catholic archbishops of San Antonio