This is a day a lot of people have prayed about for many years.

There's a line in the movie Rudy, where a priest says that, "In 30 years of religious life, I've learned two things: Number One, there is a God; Number Two, I'm not Him." I've been thinking about that line ever since I returned to Colorado in 1997. You learn very quickly as a bishop that your job is impossible without the grace of God, the support of your brother priests, and the love of your people. And I think that's especially the case here in Denver.

The Church in northern Colorado is so big, so alive and growing so fast, that nobody can do God's work without a lot of help every day. I've said many times that I could never do this ministry without the friendship of my vicars general, Monsignor Jones and Monsignor Nickless. I want to thank them again today for sharing so much of my work so unselfishly, and I'm very, very grateful that they'll continue as my vicars general in the future.

And yet, some things really do beg for the presence of a bishop, and until I learn how to be in two places at the same time, I can't do them all. That's why Denver had auxiliary bishops in the past. And since then, our needs and opportunities have only gotten bigger -- which is why the news today is so important. For Catholics, every bishop is a successor of the apostles. And that apostolic presence grounds and nourishes the local Church. An auxiliary bishop shares in the service of his bishop in a unique way. In effect, his presence is the archbishop's presence; his work is the archbishop's work.

On Monday, January 8, the Holy Father granted my request for an auxiliary by appointing Reverend José Gomez as auxiliary bishop of Denver. You have the resume of the bishop-elect in your press kits, and I invite you to read it carefully . . . because when you do, you'll see that we've been given a tremendously gifted man as a bishop and a brother.

I'm not allowed to talk much about the specific details of what goes into choosing bishops -- but I can tell you that Bishop-Elect Gomez was enthusiastically recommended by every bishop, priest and layperson I consulted.

In my own contact with him over the past year on a project for the American bishops, I've been tremendously impressed by his intelligence, energy, balance, warmth and humor. He has wonderful pastoral experience, and excellent leadership skills. He'll be a brother to our priests and deacons, and a great servant to our people. In every sense, we couldn't be more blessed. And I'm grateful to God, to the Holy Father and to Bishop-Elect Gomez that today is finally possible.

When I came to Denver in 1997, I committed myself to being bishop of all the people -- not just Native Americans, or Anglos, or Hispanics, or Asians, but all our Catholic people. When Bishop-Elect Gomez is ordained a bishop at the cathedral on March 26, he'll join in that ministry. This is special day of joy for our Hispanic community -- and rightly so. But it's a special day of joy for all our people, because all our people will come to know Bishop José as their brother, their friend, and their bishop.

In a few minutes we'll be taking questions, but now please join me in welcoming our new bishop-elect.