USCCB - (Office of Media Relations) - San Angelo Priest Named Auxiliary Bishop of Galveston-Houston

San Angelo Priest Named Auxiliary Bishop of Galveston-Houston

WASHINGTON (November 29, 2001) -- Pope John Paul II appointed Father Joseph S. Vasquez, pastor of St. Joseph Church, San Angelo, Texas, to be Auxiliary Bishop of Galveston-Houston. Bishop-elect Vasquez, 44, was named Titular Bishop of Cova.

Most Reverend Joseph A. Fiorenza is Bishop of Galveston-Houston.

Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, announced the appointment.

Bishop-elect Vasquez was born in Stamford, Texas, July 9, 1957. He attended St. Mary Seminary in Houston and graduated from the University of St. Thomas. He completed theological studies at the Gregorian University in Rome while a student at the Pontifical North American College. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 30, 1984 in San Angelo by Bishop Fiorenza, and returned to Rome for a post-graduate degree, obtaining a licentiate in theology (S.T.L).

Bishop-elect Vasquez served for ten years as pastor of St. Joseph Church in Fort Stockton, and in 1997 was named pastor of St. Joseph Church, San Angelo.

Expressing gratitude to the Holy Father for giving Bishop-elect Vasquez to the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, Bishop Fiorenza said: "It is an early Christmas gift. I have known Father
Vasquez for many years. In fact, when I was Bishop of San Angelo, I recognized his talents as a seminarian and I sent him to Rome to complete his studies for the priesthood. It was a great pleasure for me to ordain him a priest in 1984, and now it will be a special joy to ordain him a bishop for service to the Diocese of Galveston-Houston. He will be a tremendous help to Bishop Rizzotto and to me."

The date for the episcopal ordination has been set for January 23, 2002 at the Catholic Charismatic Center.