Pope appoints new Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio

The Holy Father on Monday named a new Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of San Antonio, Texas. Bishop-elect Gary W. Janak hails from the clergy of the Texan Diocese of Victoria. Pope Francis also assigned him the titular see of Dionysiana.

Father Janak was born March 22, 1962 in El Campo, Texas. He graduated from Palacios High School in 1980 and attended Wharton Junior College and the University of Texas, Austin (1980-1982) and received a Bachelor of Arts in history from The College of Santa Fe in New Mexico (1982-1983). He received a Master of Divinity from Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas (1983-1988) and a Licentiate in Canon Law (JCL) from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. (1993-1995). He received a Master of Education in counseling from University of Houston-Victoria in Victoria, Texas (1995-1997) and is a Licensed Professional Counselor for the State of Texas (2000 to present). He attended Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Assumption Seminary in San Antonio, Texas, and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Victoria on May 14, 1988.

Assignments after ordination include: parochial vicar at Cathedral of Our Lady of Victory, Victoria, Texas (1988-1990); priest in residence at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Victoria, Texas (1990-1994); pastor at St. Joseph Church, Yoakum, Texas (1994-2003); pastor at St. Philip the Apostle Church, El Campo, Texas (2003-2013); and parochial administrator, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Nada, Texas, and St. John Nepomucene Church, New Taiton, Texas (2005-2006). Father Janak has also served as chancellor for the Diocese of Victoria since 2012, and as rector of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Victory since 2013. From April to June 2015, he served as diocesan administrator, and since 2015 has been vicar general for the Diocese of Victoria.