WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has named Msgr. George A. Sheltz, who is vicar general, chancellor and moderator of the curia of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, as an auxiliary bishop of the Texas archdiocese.
The appointment was announced in Washington Feb. 21 by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
Pope Benedict XVI has named Msgr. George A. Sheltz, who is vicar general, chancellor and moderator of the curia of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, as an auxiliary bishop of the Texas archdiocese. The appointment was announced in Washington Feb. 21 by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, apostolic nuncio to the United States. Msgr. Sheltz is pictured in an undated photo. (CNS photo/courtesy Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston)
Bishop-designate Sheltz's episcopal ordination will be April 25 at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston.
"His serene demeanor in every administrative and pastoral situation signifies a man who is strong in his faith in the Lord and in the church," Cardinal Daniel N. Dinardo of Galveston-Houston said in a statement.
Named to his current archdiocesan posts in 2010, Bishop-designate Sheltz, 65, was a parish priest and pastor for 36 years before those appointments, the cardinal noted. "(He) has been a calm and kind shepherd to so many of our Catholic faithful at churches across the archdiocese."
"I look forward to working with you as my chief collaborator in this growing, diverse archdiocese. May God bless you and guide you as you love and lead the church with the heart of Christ," Cardinal DiNardo said.
Bishop-designate Sheltz said in a statement that he was "moved and humbled" that the pope "has chosen me to serve in this capacity, in a place that has always been my home."
He thanked Cardinal DiNardo for naming him to his leadership positions in the archdiocese two years ago. He paid tribute to now-retired Auxiliary Bishop Vincent M. Rizzotto, "whose life as a pastor has inspired me," and to retired Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston, his pastor when he was a young priest.
The bishop-designate also thanked the Basilian Fathers, who were his high school teachers and "so instrumental in encouraging my vocation to the priesthood."
He said he was sad that his late parents, George Sr. and Margaret Sheltz, and his late brother, Father Anton Sheltz, were not "with us on this joyous day. But I take comfort in knowing that my sister, Mary Margaret, and I continue to feel their love and support."
"I look forward to continuing to work with the priests, deacons, religious women and men and lay faithful in this great Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. You are the face of the living Christ, and together we must work to make the person of Jesus known to youth, to our families, to the poor, to the sick and the suffering."
George Arthur Sheltz was born and raised in Houston, the second-oldest child in a family of two sons and one daughter. He attended Annunciation Catholic School, St. Thomas High School, the University of St. Thomas and St. Mary's Seminary -- all located in the Bayou City, as Houston is popularly known. He earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a master's degree in theology, and was ordained for the archdiocese in 1971.
During his 36 years of parish work, he was assigned to a number of Catholic churches around the archdiocese. In 1980, he was founding pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish in Houston.
In 2007, he was named director of clergy formation and chaplaincy services for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. Since 2010, as vicar general and chancellor, he has overseen the administrative operations of the largest diocese in Texas and the 12th largest in the United States.
Bishop-designate Sheltz comes from a family of Houston vocations. His late father was in the first class of permanent deacons ordained for the diocese. His late brother was ordained in 1976 as a priest for what was then the Diocese of Galveston-Houston; it became an archdiocese in 2004. Bishop-designate Sheltz's uncle, Msgr. Anton Frank, was the first native Houstonian to be ordained for the diocese in 1933.
Bishop-designate Sheltz has chosen as his episcopal motto, "Through him, with him, in him," from the eucharistic prayer at Mass. With these words, he said, he wants to proclaim that "as a bishop, my ministry will be to do all things through Christ."
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