Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo Nevares
Posted Jul 20, 12:54 PM
The Rev. Eduardo Nevares was ordained as auxiliary bishop of Phoenix on Monday.
With more than 20 bishops present from throughout the West, including soon-to-retire Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, Nevares was elevated to their ranks through a series of prayers, laying-on of hands and presentation of items that designate him as a bishop, including his own miter, the pointed cap that bishops wear during ceremonies.
Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix led the service. He was assisted in the ordination by Archbishop Michael Sheehan of Santa Fe, who led the Diocese of Phoenix briefly prior to Olmsted’s arrival, and Bishop Alvaro Corrada of Tyler, Texas, Nevares’ hometown.
In his homily, Olmsted encouraged Nevares, who will function as his right-hand man, to serve the faithful with courage.
“The office of bishop is one of service, not of prestige,” Olmsted said. “It is our privilege and our duty to serve and not be served, to put others’ needs ahead of our own and to resist all temptation to lord it over anyone.”
Nevares, the diocese’s first auxiliary bishop, said but a few words during the service, responding affirmatively to a series of questions from Olmsted about upholding the faith and fulfilling his new duties.
The ceremony, held at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Avondale, the diocese’s largest parish, was filled with incense and music in Latin and English.
More than 2,000 people filled the church for the three-hour service.
At the end, Nevares, whose last posting was as vice rector of the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, thanked those in attendance for their warmth and generosity.
Outside, dozens of Hispanic Catholics sang and played music in his honor as the service ended.
One of them, Carlos Florez of Phoenix, said he hopes Nevares will open new channels of communication with Latino Catholics.
“He will add to the voice of the Hispanic community,” he said.
Addressing reporters afterward, Nevares said he now has a “great responsibility” to teach, preach and govern in the diocese.
In response to questions about the immigration issue, he said, “We are all immigrants, all pilgrims on the way.
“I will preach the Gospel to everybody. I hope to get to know, love and encourage everyone, especially those who are downtrodden.”
He said the timing of his ordination, as Arizona’s tough new immigration law is the subject of hearings in federal court, was “providential.”
But he added that a new bishop’s position for Arizona had been in the works long before SB 1070 was conceived.
Bishop Nevares, son of Andres and Beatriz Nevares, was born Feb. 19, 1954, in San Antonio, Texas. He attended :
-Our Lady of LaSallete High School Seminary in Jefferson City, Mo.
-St. Henry Prep Seminary in Belleville, Ill.
-LaSalette Junior College Seminary in Altamont, N.Y.
-Missionary of Our Lady of LaSalette Philosophy Seminary in Ipswich, Mass.
-University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy
-Kenrick Archdiocesan Seminary in St. Louis, Mo., where he earned a Master of Divinity Degree
He was ordained a priest on July 18, 1981, for the religious community of the Missionaries of Our Lady of LaSalette and later was incardinated to the Diocese of Tyler, Texas, in May 2007.
Bishop Nevares served several parish assignments in Texas, including St. Patrick in Lufkin and Our Lady of Sorrow in Jacksonville.
He served as Catholic Chaplain to Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas, and as Vocation Director for both the Missionaries of Our Lady of LaSalette and the Diocese of Tyler, Texas.
He most recently served as the Vice Rector of the College of Liberal Arts, Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.
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