Richard John Garcia


Richard John Garcia was an American Roman Catholic bishop. He was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI as the fourth ordinary bishop of the Diocese of Monterey in California on December 19, 2006, and was installed at a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Roger Mahony on January 30, 2007.

Early life

Garcia was born in San Francisco in 1947 to immigrant parents from Mexico. He completed his studies for the priesthood at Saint Joseph College in Mountain View and at St. Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, California.

Episcopal appointments

Garcia was ordained to the priesthood on June 15, 1973 for the Archdiocese of San Francisco at Sacred Heart Parish in San Jose, California. For seven years he served as an associate pastor and coordinator of Hispanic apostolate, from 1980 to 1984 he studied theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Angelicum in Rome.
When the Diocese of San Jose in California was erected in 1981, Garcia was transferred to the new diocese. He taught at Saint Joseph Minor Seminary in Los Altos and at Saint Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, California.
In 1997, while serving as the pastor of Saint Leo the Great Parish in San Jose and as the diocesan director for vocations, Pope John Paul II named Garcia titular bishop of Bapara and auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento. He was consecrated on January 28, 1998 at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament; Bishop William Weigand served as his principal consecrator, with Archbishop John R. Quinn and Bishop Pierre DuMaine as his principal co-consecrators. In Sacramento, Garcia served as vicar general and moderator of the curia, vicar for clergy, episcopal vicar for the Hispanic American population, and vicar for education and vocations.

Committee appointments

In 2009, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops elected Garcia as a member of the Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. where he sits on the board Garcia is also a member of Migration and Refugee Services, Subcommittee on Hispanics Affairs and the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church.

Health

In April 2018, Garcia was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. García died on 11 July 2018 from complications of the disease, aged 71.

Episcopal succession