USCCB President Appoints Bishops Flores, Cantú as Representatives of U.S. Bishops to Papal Visit to Mexico

 WASHINGTON—Two bishops who head U.S. dioceses bordering Mexico will officially represent the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) during the February 12-17 visit of Pope Francis to Mexico. Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, and Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, New Mexico, received the appointment from Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, USCCB president.

"I am most grateful to Bishop Flores and Bishop Cantú for their generous willingness to serve in this important role," Archbishop Kurtz said of the appointments, which were made at the invitation of Cardinal José Francisco Robles Ortega, president of the Mexican bishops, and Bishop Eugenio Andrés Lira Rugarcía, general secretary of that conference. Archbishop Kurtz announced the appointments in a letter to all U.S. bishops, January 26.

Bishop Flores, 54, was appointed to head the Brownsville diocese in 2009. The diocese has 1,119,583 Catholics, who make up 85 percent of its total population. Bishop Cantú, 49, had headed the Las Cruces diocese since 2013. The diocese has 234,550 Catholics, who make up 42 of its total population.
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Keywords: Pope Francis, Mexico, Bishop Daniel E. Flores, Brownsville, Texas, Bishop Oscar Cantú, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USCCB, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, papal visit

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