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WASHINGTON (July 26, 2005) —Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Father Rutilio J. Del Riego, DLP, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish, Riverside, California, as Auxiliary Bishop of San Bernardino.
The appointment was announced by Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.
Rutilio J. Del Riego was born September 21, 1940, in Valdesandinas (Leon), Spain.
He completed studies in Philosophy and Theology in the Seminary of the Diocesan Laborer Priests in Salamanca, Spain. He came to the United States in 1964 and became a U.S. citizen in 1981.
Father Del Riego was ordained a priest on June 5, 1965, for the Secular Institute of Pontifical Right-Diocesan Laborer Priests, in Washington, D.C. He was Director, DLP House of Formation, Washington, D.C., 1994-1999.
Founded in Spain in 1885, the Diocesan Laborer Priests is an organization dedicated to promoting and sustaining vocations through a love for the Eucharist.
Bishop-elect Del Riego has a Licentiate in Theology and a Master's degree in Spanish from the Catholic University of America.
He was Spanish language instructor, St. Vincent College, Latrobe, PA, 1966-1969; Director of the Spanish Catholic Apostolate, Archdiocese of Washington, 1969-1973; Director of the Office of Vocations, Archdiocese of San
Antonio, 1975-1978; and Director of the Office for Hispanics, N.E. Pastoral Center, New York, 1978-1982.
Bishop-elect Del Riego was pastor, Santa Lucia Parish, El Paso, 1983-1993, pastor, San Antonio parish, El Paso, 1993-1994, and Vice Rector, Serra House, Diocese of San Bernardino, 1999-2000. He was appointed Pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Riverside, in 2000.
Established in 1978, the Diocese of San Bernardino comprises San Bernardino and Riverside counties in the State of California. It has a Catholic population of more than one million in a total population of about 3.6 million.
Most Reverend Gerald R. Barnes is Bishop of San Bernardino.