Chicago vicar general named auxiliary bishop for archdiocese

Published: 2005-12-01

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI has named Father George J. Rassas, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago, as an auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese. Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic nuncio to the United States, announced the appointment in Washington Dec. 1. Bishop-designate Rassas, 63, was named vicar general in 2004. Prior to that appointment, he had been pastor of St. Mary Parish in Lake Forest since 1990. His ordination is scheduled for Feb. 2. "I'm grateful to all those who have prayed for me, who have mentored me, who have encouraged me to be a better person and a better priest, and I hope there will be many more who will help me to be a good bishop. I'm mindful of the words of St. Augustine, who said, 'For you I'm a bishop, but with you I'm a Christian,'" he said during a Dec. 1 press conference in Chicago.

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