Bishop Joe Vasquez to be next Archbishop of Houston
Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin, Texas, will be announced as the next Archbishop of Galveston-Houston this week, sources close to the process have confirmed to The Pillar.
Sources close to the Dicastery for Bishops told The Pillar that Vasquez will be presented in the archdiocese on Monday, January 20. In becoming the third archbishop and sixth leader of the joint see of Galveston Houston, he will assume leadership of an archdiocese of 1.8 million Catholics and the fourth largest city in the country.
In addition to leading the Austin diocese, where he arrived in 2010, Vasquez was appointed by Pope Francis in 2023 to serve as apostolic administrator of the Texas Diocese of Tyler after the pope took the unusual step of removing Bishop Joseph Strickland from his leadership of that diocese.
While Strickland was removed in part for his controversial comments about Pope Francis, The Pillar also reported at the time that questions were raised about the governance of a diocesan high school, considerable staff turnover in the diocesan curia and issues with the controversial Veritatis Splendor community, which Vasquez had to contend with in addition to his responsibilities in Austin.
Vasquez served as head of both dioceses until Pope Francis named Bishop Gregory Kelly to the Tyler diocese in December last year.
Aged 67, Vasquez will succeed Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, 75, who submitted his letter of resignation last May.
The cardinal, in addition to leading the archdiocese, served as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops from 2016 until 2019, and in 2014 was named by Pope Francis to serve as a member of the Vatican’s Council for the Economy.
Vasquez, a Texas native, studied theology at the University of St. Thomas in Houston before proceeding to seminary studies at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1984 for the Diocese of San Angelo.
After multiple assignments in parish ministry, Vasquez was named an auxiliary bishop of the Galveston-Houston archdiocese in 2002, where he served variously as episcopal vicar for Hispanics, vicar general, and chancellor. He was named Bishop of Austin in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI.
The appointment of Vasquez to Galveston-Houstion is the most recent in a long list of archepiscopal appointments due for the Church in the United States.
Earlier this month, Pope Franics named Cardinal Robert McElroy, erstwhile Bishop of San Diego, to succeed Cardinal Wilton Gregory as Archbishop of Washington. In August last year, then-Bishop Richard Henning was named to replace Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston.
Currently, the archbishops of Detroit, Cincinnati, Mobile, Omaha, Kansas City in Kansas, New Orleans, and Chicago are all past the nominal retirement age of 75 established in canon law.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York turns 75 in February, and will be joined by the archbishops of Denver, Santa Fe, Las Vegas, and Miami later this year.
One interesting aspect of this appointment, and many others, is the age of the newly appointed (arch)bishops. Archbishop Vasquez is in his late 60s, Cardinal DiNardo was appointed to the same archdiocese at the age of 55. Cardinal McElroy is in his early 70s. How much bandwith does anyone have at that age?
What are we to make of this? I think it comes down to the fact that we are living in a gerontocracy. Those who choose bishops do not trust anyone younger for these assignments.
This is a blessing. P Francis has not been able to return the US episcopacy to the 1980s vision that many assume he desires. It also means that many of his appointments will not have long-term consequences.
My argument is not a reflection of Archbishop Vasquez. He seems like a good and holy bishop. So while many are happy that these appointments are not going to have a long-term or a long-lasting impact, we should be very concerned. For what the Church in the US needs is a vigorous leadership that can provide a unified vision that will regenerize all Catholics.
I'm surprised +Flores didn't get the nod. I wonder if he may be a contender for New York.