Pope Francis has appointed two new auxiliary bishops for the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego.
The Vatican made the announcement Tuesday that Rev. Michael Pham and Rev. Felipe Pulido will be consecrated as bishops in a Mass later this year.
Rev. Pham is currently the pastor at Good Shepherd Parish in Mira Mesa, while Rev. Pulido is the pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Yakima, Washington.
They will join Auxiliary Bishop Ramon Bejarano in helping Cardinal Robert McElroy in his duties as bishop of San Diego.
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“I could not be more pleased nor more grateful that His Holiness has seen fit to bless our diocese with these two faithful and committed servants of the Lord,” said McElroy.
Both Pham and Pulido immigrated to the United States as teenagers.
Bishop-elect Michael Pham's Journey to the U.S.
Bishop-elect Pham left Vietnam in 1980 on a refugee boat at the age of 13 and eventually moved to San Diego in 1985.
He later attended San Diego State University where he earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in aeronautical engineering but felt a strong calling to enter the priesthood. Pham enrolled in a seminary and was ordained a priest of the San Diego Diocese in 1999.
“I’ve known Father Michael since I came to San Diego eight years ago,” said McElroy.
“His efforts at Good Shepherd have made a good parish great and his tireless ministry highlighting the rich cultural diversity of our diocese and our Church are powerful and moving," McElroy added.
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Bishop-elect Felipe Pulido's Trip to America
Bishop-elect Pulido was born in a small town west of Mexico City and attended minor seminary in Uruapan, Michoacán from middle school until the beginning of high school. In 1988 Pulido and his family moved to Yakima, Washington where as a teenager he worked in the fields picking vegetables and fruit. Then after working as a teaching assistant at the Epic Migrant Head Start program in Yakima, Pulido decided to enter the seminary in 1994. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Yakima in 2002.
“Father Felipe is new to the San Diego area, but I have come to know him as a man of deep faith whose ministry has been an inspiration to the people in his home diocese of Yakima,” said McElroy.
“More than half the parishioners in our diocese are Latino and having two men as gifted as Bishop Bejarano and Father Felipe can only improve our ability to minister to all Catholics in San Diego and Imperial counties," McElroy said.
The consecration Mass for the new auxiliary bishops will be on Sept. 28.
The location has not been determined yet.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego serves more than 1.5 million Catholics in San Diego and Imperial counties.
