Archbishop-designate Blase Cupich arrives in Chicago

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The next archbishop of Chicago arrived in his new hometown on Thursday.

"Someone asked me on the plane if I was coming home, and I said 'Yes, definitely I am.' So, that's how I feel today as I enter the city," Archbishop-designate Blase Cupich said.

Cupich, 65, arrived at Chicago's O'Hare Airport from Baltimore, where he has been attending a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Minutes after getting off the plane, Cupich held a wide-ranging news conference Thursday afternoon at O'Hare. As archbishop, Cupich will be confronted by a mountain of issues, among them school closings and last week's release of priest sex abuse files.

He was asked on Thursday why one priest, Father Daniel McCormack, was not included in that disclosure.

"I'm going to have to get up to speed on what that is all about. I do favor transparency, and I can tell you from talking to the Cardinal, he does as well," Cupich said.

He has a few days to get settled and spend time with his large extended family, many of whom are flying in from his native Omaha this weekend.

"People in Chicago are much like the people in Omaha, where I grew up. They work hard, they pray hard," Cupich said.

An evening prayer service is scheduled Monday at Holy Name Cathedral. He will be speaking at that service and it is expected to be attended by priests and civic leaders, as well as Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Pat Quinn. The following day, on Tuesday, Nov. 19, the installation mass will be held at Holy Name and will be attended by cardinals and bishops from around the country.

"Chicago has been blessed by wonderful leaders for many generations, both in the church and in the civic order, and I'm just honored to be a part of that and have a good representation of the leadership that evening," Cupich said.

Cupich left O'Hare to meet with Francis Cardinal George. He will stay at the cardinal's mansion in the Gold Coast before moving to his permanent - more humble - residence at the Holy Name rectory.

You can watch the installation of Chicago's new Archbishop Blase Cupich broadcast live on ABC7 Eyewitness News and streamed live at ABC7Chicago.com at 1:00 PM on Tuesday, Nov. 18.