Plácido Rodríguez C.M.F. is an American prelate of the Catholic Church and the retired bishop of Lubbock. Rodríguez was born in Celaya, Mexico to Eutimio and Maria Conception. He was the 11th born out of 14 children; his family emigrated to Chicago in 1953, when he was twelve years old. He was ordained a Claretian priest on May 23, 1968. Rodríguez was appointed both auxiliary bishop of Chicago and titular bishop of Fuerteventura on October 18, 1983 and was consecrated on December 13, 1983. He was installed as bishop of Lubbock on June 1, 1994.
Career
Milestones during his tenure as bishop in Lubbock include:
An increase in the number of self-identified Catholics in the diocese by 69.5 percent from 2000 to 2010, from 80,742 to 136,894. The new total represents 27.6 percent of the 494,458 total population in the 25 counties of the diocese: Bailey, Borden, Cochran, Cottle, Crosby, Dawson, Dickens, Fisher, Floyd, Gaines, Garza, Hale, Haskell, Hockley, Jones, Kent, King, Lamb, Lubbock, Lynn, Motley, Scurry, Stonewall, Terry and Yoakum.
Appointment of a diocesan vocations team in 1995, and assignment of a full-time priest to lead it in 2011, resulting in more vocations to the priesthood and religious life from within the diocese.
Announcement of the acquisition of Methodist Hospital in Lubbock by Saint Joseph Health System. The subsequent new entity was subsequently named Covenant Health System.
Establishment of a new Fourth Degree Assembly of Knights of Columbus and an increase in the number of Knights of Columbus Councils by more than 200 percent.
Ordination of 22 men to the Permanent Diaconate in 1996, 19 in 2005 and 33 in 2013. A new group of men began a five-year period of formation in 2014.
Addition of several new religious orders to existing orders serving the Diocese of Lubbock, including The Missionary Sisters of the Lord's Table, the Dominicans, and the Sisters of Notre Dame. The Saint Francis Mission Sisters relocated their mother house from Amarillo and built Our Lady of Angels Convent in Wolfforth in 2001.
The Order of Preachers - Dominicans - entered the diocese to assume pastorship of St. Elizabeth University Parish and chaplaincy for its growing Campus Ministry. Announcement of the construction of a $5 million Catholic Student Center.
Attaining pledges of $10 million to a major capital stewardship campaign, "The Love of Christ Impels Us," in 2008 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the Diocese of Lubbock, making many projects possible, including a major expansion of the school and the construction of the Family Activity Center and Early Childhood Development Center at Christ the King Cathedral.
Creation of the Office of Marriage and Family Life in 1997.
Hosting of two exhibitions of Vatican art treasures: Medieval Frescoes in 2002 and the Pope John Paul II Exhibition in 2014.
Addition of the ACTS Retreat Movement in 2004 to the already thriving Cursillo Movement.
Focusing on new evangelization through the appointment of a director for evangelization in 1997, utilizing programs from RENEW International to form small Christian communities in all parishes and expanding the mission of the Office of Christian Formation by renaming it the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis in 2013.
Creation of a diocesan communications board and a pastoral communications plan that included radio, web and social media. KVIO 102.9 FM Our Lady of Victory Catholic Radio began broadcasting in December 2014.
Stewarding the growth of the separately incorporated Catholic Foundation of the Diocese of Lubbock to $3 million in managed assets that provides more than $125 thousand in annual grants to the diocese, its parishes, schools and Catholic organizations.
Hosting of numerous Catholic conferences and events in Lubbock, including the Junior Catholic Daughters State Convention, Region X Stewardship Conference, the Southwest Liturgical Conference Study Week, the 20th Jubilee Eucharistic Congress, the annual diocesan Catechetical and Ministries Conference, the annual Footsteps in Faith Bible Conference, and major liturgical events such as the Millennium Mass in May 1999, the Diocesan 25th Jubilee Mass, the Annual Judicial Red Mass, which was first held in 2001, and the Annual White Mass for health care workers, which began in 2004.
As required by Canon Law, upon attaining the age of 75 on October 11, 2015, Bishop Rodríguez submitted his letter of resignation to Pope Francis. That resignation was accepted by the Pontiff on September 27, 2016 when Pope Francis named Rev. Monsignor Robert M. Coerver as Bishop-elect of Lubbock. Until Coerver's ordination as a bishop and installation as the Third Bishop of Lubbock on November 21, 2016, Bishop Rodríguez served as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Lubbock. Bishop Rodríguez retired to his hometown of Chicago to return to the Claretian Order actively working in promotion of vocations.
