Posted on 05/22/2025 3:31:47 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
In an indication of the direction of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV has made his first bishop appointments, and for San Diego, his choice was a huge winner.
According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:
WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has appointed Most Reverend Michael Pham, auxiliary bishop of San Diego and diocesan administrator, as the Bishop of San Diego.
The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on May 22, 2025, by Monsignor Većeslav Tumir, chargé d’ affaires, a.i. of the Apostolic Nunciature, in the temporary absence of Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
Bishop Pham’s biography may be found here.
The Diocese of San Diego is comprised of 8,852 square miles in the State of California and has a total population of 3,454,921 of which 1,381,968, are Catholic.
He picked the bishop we all wanted among the local Catholics I know, Michael D. Pham, who is well known as a friendly, lively auxiliary bishop and formerly a priest in our parish, very conservative and level-headed, but doesn't put politics out there. No global warming, no Che Guevara politics, no social justice-warrioring, no NGO culture replacing religious culture, no guitar Mass.
He's a former Vietnamese boat person who fled that regime, having seen communism firsthand, so unlike a lot of characters in the Church, has no affection for that hideous idea.
I love his coat of arms, which features a ship at sea, and the archdiocese says is mainly a reference to St. Peter the fisher of men, but also nod to his father who had been a fisherman in Da Nang, Vietnam. I look at that and can see that obviously, it is also a reference to the boat people fleeing communist brutality, too.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
This is the first positive “review” of Pope Leo that I have seen on FR. I think I’ve seen 4 negative reviews.
I hope he restores the traditional Latin Mass at Holy Cross Cemetery, which was well-attended in the past before McElroy got rid of it. (At least I assume McElroy was responsible.)
Numerous family members of mine going back several generations are buried at beautiful Holy Cross. I'd love to see the Latin Mass restored there.
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