Texas priest to become first auxiliary bishop for Phoenix

Phoenix, Ariz., May 11, 2010 / 09:26 am

Tuesday morning, a priest from the Diocese of Tyler, Texas was appointed Phoenix's first auxiliary bishop by the Holy Father. The youngest of five children, the bilingual bishop-elect will bring his rich experience in forming priests and deacons to his new diocese.

Fr. Eduardo A. Nevares is currently vice rector of the College of Liberal Arts at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.

“With just one phone call, your life changes,” Bishop-elect Nevares told Phoenix's diocesan paper, the Catholic Sun. “In the seminary, I’m surrounded by all sorts of doctors of theology. I never expected to be named a bishop.”

The bishop-elect was born in San Antonio, Texas to a Mexican-American family in 1954.  The youngest of five, young Eduardo would attend daily Mass with his mother while his older siblings were in school, reports the Catholic Sun.

Upon hearing the news of the appointment, Phoenix Bishop Thomas Olmsted, whom Bishop-elect Nevares will work alongside, noted the importance of his strong, Catholic upbringing.

“Bishop-elect Nevares comes from a wonderful Mexican-American family, with whom he maintains close bonds of love,” Bishop Olmsted said. “I am deeply grateful to them for the gift of their son to the Church. It is from them undoubtedly that he inherited his lively faith and his spontaneous spirit of joy.”

After receiving his bachelor's degree in Philosophy, Fr. Nevares went on to complete studies for his  Master of Divinity Degree at Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri in 1981.  That same year, he was ordained a priest for the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette.

According to the Josephinum website, Fr. Nevares served as vocations director for the La Salette Missionaries as well as chaplain of the Stephen F. Austin University.

Fr. Nevares was incardinated into the Diocese of Tyler in 2007. He later became Co-Director for Vocations to Holy Orders and the Consecrated Life for the diocese and worked with formation programs for those studying to become permanent deacons.

“It is significant that he comes to us during the Year for Priests,” Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted told the Catholic Sun, “since he has such a wide and rich experience in promoting vocations to the priesthood, in forming men for priestly ministry in the seminary, and in building up the unity and fraternity of priests.”

His episcopal ordination is set for July 19 at the Cathedral of Sts. Simon and Jude in Phoenix.

Bishop-elect Nevares' new diocese is comprised of 706,433 Catholics, 318 priests, 269 permanent deacons and 317 religious.