San Diego diocese mourns death of Bishop Cirilo Flores

San Diego, Calif., Sep 8, 2014 / 11:23 am

Bishop Cirilo Flores of San Diego passed away the afternoon of Saturday, Sept. 6, at the city's Nazareth House, accompanied family and friends.

Bishop Flores was 66 years old. He suffered a stroke in April, and as he continued dealing with its effects, his diocese announced Aug. 25 that he was also undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.

The Diocese of San Diego has asked that both Bishop Flores and his family be remembered in prayer.

At his deathbed were his cousin, Dr. Tom Martinez; Msgr. Steven Callahan; and the Sisters of Nazareth.

Bishop Flores was born in 1948 in Corona, Calif., 22 miles northeast of Orange, the child of Cirilo and Armida Flores. He has three brothers and two sisters, all of whom live in California.

He studied law at Stanford University, and practiced law in Riverside and Los Angeles counties prior to entering St. John's Seminary in Camarillo in 1986.

He was ordained a priest of the Orange diocese in 1991, at the age of 43, and served in several parishes of the diocese. He was then consecrated as an auxiliary bishop of the diocese in 2009.

In 2012, Bishop Flores was appointed coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of San Diego, succeeding as its ordinary on Sept. 18, 2013, upon the retirement of Bishop Robert Brom.

He is survived in the episcopacy of his local Church by Bishop Brom, 75, and Bishop Gilbert Chavez, 82, an auxiliary bishop emeritus of San Diego.