St. Julie Billiart Pastor Named Coadjutor Bishop Of Peoria

TINLEY PARK, IL — Father Louis Tylka, the pastor of St. Julie Billiart Catholic Church in Tinley Park, has been named the next coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Peoria. Pope Francis announced the appointment Monday morning.

“I am humbled and honored by this appointment,” Bishop-elect Tylka said in a news release from the Archdiocese of Chicago. “I am grateful to the Holy Father and encouraged by his confidence in me. I am looking forward to serving alongside Bishop Jenky and learning from the priests, leaders and faithful in the Church of Central Illinois.”

A coadjutor bishop serves as an assistant to the bishop, with succession to the bishop role upon retirement of the current bishop assumed. The Diocese of Peoria covers 26 Illinois counties, from the Indiana border on the east to the Mississippi River on the west. It includes 160 parishes and 44 schools and a total population of 1,492,335, of whom 121,965 are Catholic.

Tylka is a native of the south suburbs, born in Harvey and an alum of both St. Joseph Grammar School in Homewood and Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights. He was ordained into the priesthood in 1996 by Joseph Cardinal Cernadin at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago.

"We welcome the appointment of Bishop-elect Tylka as Coadjutor of the Diocese of Peoria and are pleased he will join the bishops of Illinois in working cooperatively to serve the faithful in our state," Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, said. “He has proved himself to be a compassionate and inspiring pastor and a strong advocate for priests and the priesthood. We look forward to the contributions he will make to the Church in the coming years.”

Tylka, St. Julie's pastor since 2014, has previously served as pastor of Mater Christi Parish and Shrine of Mary, Mother of Mothers in North Riverside and has been an associate pastor at St. Michael Parish in Orland Park and Ss. Faith, Hope and Charity Parish in Winnetka.

He is expected to begin his new role in Peoria later this year, the Archdiocese said. Eventually, he will succeed the Peoria diocese' current Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, 73, when Jenky retires, Catholic San Francisco reports. Jenky has been bishop there for 18 years.