Pope Names Bishop Cirilo Flores Coadjutor Bishop of San Diego
WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has named Bishop Cirilo Flores, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Orange, California, coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of San Diego. The appointment was publicized in Washington, January 4, by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI has named Bishop Cirilo Flores, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Orange, California, coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of San Diego.
The appointment was publicized in Washington, January 4, by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States. As coadjutor bishop, Bishop Flores is automatically in line to succeed Bishop Robert Brom upon his retirement.
Cirilo Flores was born June 20, 1948, in Corona, California. He attended Corona Unified School District, St. Edward School and Notre Dame High School in Riverside, California. He received a bachelor’s degree from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, a doctorate from Stanford University Law School, Palo Alto, California, and a master of divinity from St. John Seminary in Camarillo, California. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Orange on June 8, 1991.
After ordination, he served as parochial vicar at St. Barbara Parish in Santa Ana, St. Joachim Parish in Costa Mesa, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Newport Beach, and Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in La Habra. He served as pastor of St. Anne Parish in Santa Ana and was a member of the diocesan finance council and the editorial board of the Orange County Catholic diocesan newspaper.
On January 5, 2009, Pope Benedict appointed him auxiliary bishop of Orange. He was ordained a bishop on March 19, 2009.
Bishop Robert Brom, 73, has served as bishop San Diego since 1990. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Winona, Minnesota, in 1963 and appointed bishop of Duluth, Minnesota in 1983. He was ordained a bishop May 23 of that year and served as bishop of Duluth till being appointed coadjutor bishop of San Diego in 1989.
The Diocese of San Diego covers 8,852 square miles in the state of California. It has a total population of 3,119,762 with 981,877, or 31 percent of them, Catholic.
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Keywords: Bishop Cirilo B. Flores, coadjutor bishop, Diocese of San Diego, California, Diocese of Orange, auxiliary, Bishop Robert H. Brom, Pope Benedict XVI, appointment, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, apostolic nuncio to the United States, successor
