The Most Rev. Jerome Edward Listecki has been named Milwaukee’s new archbishop.

He becomes  the 11th archbishop of the Milwaukee, replacing the Most Rev. Timothy Dolan as head of the 10-county, 700,000-member archdiocese. The announcement came from the Vatican early Saturday morning.

Listecki, 60, has been archbishop of La Crosse since 2005.

In a statement, Listecki said he was humbled by his selection by Pope Benedict XVI.

“Although I look forward to responding to the challenges presented by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, I do regret leaving the Diocese of La Crosse, a diocese that I have grown to love and call home,” he said.

A south-side Chicago native, Listecki attended Niles College of Loyola University and the University of St. Mary of Lake Mundelein Seminary for graduate studies. He was ordained a priest on May 14, 1975. He later studied canon law and moral theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

Listecki has also received a civil law degree from DePaul University, and is a retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserves.

In 2000, he was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Chicago.

In La Crosse, Listecki initiated a $50 million dollar capital campaign and individual incorporation and computerization of all 165 parishes in the diocese.

Listecki will be installed as archbishop of Milwaukee in early January.

For more details on the selection of Milwaukee’s new archbishop, see Tuesday’s edition of the Marquette Tribune.