Archbishop Emeritus Patrick J. Flores greets the new Bishop-designate Oscar Cantú at a April 10 press conference held in the Pastoral Center. Carol Baass Sowa | Today’s Catholic

For the complete press releases and text of the announcement by Archbishop José H. Gomez, go to www.archsa.org.

He will be ordained a bishop on June 2 by Archbishop José H. Gomez. At 41, Bishop-designate Cantú will be the youngest bishop in the United States. Youthful auxiliary bishops are not new to San Antonio. Archbishop Emeritus Patrick F. Flores was just a few months younger than Cantú when he was appointed bishop by Pope Paul VI in 1970.

Archbishop José Gomez introduced Bishop-designate Cantú at a news conference at the Pastoral Center April 10. The archbishop said, “Bishop-designate Cantú will be a blessing to the people of the Archdiocese of San Antonio. “I met Father Cantú when he was a seminarian and have continued to follow his priestly ministry. While we haven’t worked together before, I am confident he will be a blessing to our archdiocese. His being bilingual and bicultural will make him a perfect fit.”

Also at the press conference Archbishop Gomez shared a special tie that Bishop-designate Cantú already shares with the Archdiocese of San Antonio. Bishop-designate Cantú’s parents, Ramiro and María de Jesús Cantú, were born in small towns just outside of Monterrey, Mexico. Mr. Cantú worked in Chicago where he started his family and learned to be a machinist. Tired of the cold of the Windy City, and wanting to be closer to home, Mr. Cantú moved the then relatively young and small family to Houston, where they raised eight children. Mr. Cantú died last year at the age of 80. The Bishop-designate’s mother is 73.

In Houston the family became members of Holy Name Parish, where the young parents used to invite a young priest to their house for dinner and developed a close relationship with him. That priest would eventually leave Houston too and call San Antonio his home. Archbishop Gomez smiled broadly as he said, “His parents’ very dear friend became our beloved Archbishop Patrick Flores.”

Archbishop Emeritus Patrick Flores attended the press conference to share his joy of the Vatican announcement that another vocation had come from Holy Name Parish.

Bishop-designate Cantú was born and raised in Houston, a product of Catholic schools and was ordained a priest for the then-Diocese of Galveston-Houston in May 1994. Since his ordination, he has served in a number of parishes in the Houston metropolitan area. He currently is the pastor of Holy Name Parish in Houston, which was his childhood parish. He has also taught at the University of St. Thomas School of Theology and the University of St. Thomas at St. Mary’s Seminary.

Bishop-designate Cantú attended Holy Name elementary school and St. Thomas High School in Houston. He earned his bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Dallas. He then received his master’s degree in divinity and master’s degree in theological studies from the University of St. Thomas in Houston. He continued at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he earned his licentiate in sacred theology in the field in dogmatic theology. He currently is completing his work for a doctorate in dogmatic theology.

Since his ordination, Bishop-designate Cantú has participated in a number of ministries and movements in Houston. He was involved in the Christian Family movement the Engaged Encounter ministry, and is involved in the Metropolitan Organization (TMO). Its mission is to publicly address important social issues in the community. Until recently, he co-hosted an interfaith radio show called “Show of Faith.”

While appointing Bishop-designate Cantú San Antonio’s auxiliary bishop, Pope Benedict also named him titular bishop of Dardano.

A titular bishop is a title given to a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese of archdiocese. These dioceses no longer exist, but centuries ago might have fallen into the hands of conquerors or were absorbed into larger dioceses. These appointments serve to memorialize these dioceses.