Bishop Flores, 48, succeeds Bishop Raymundo Pena, 75, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
Ernest Flores was born in Palacios, Texas, and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Corpus Christi in January 1988.
In 1995, Father Flores was granted the title of monsignor, and in 1997 was sent to pursue a doctoral degree in theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
Bishop Flores also served in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, on the formation faculty and as vice-rector of St. Mary’s Seminary and on the teaching faculty at the University of St. Thomas School of Theology.
In October 2006, he was named auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Detroit, in Michigan. There, Bishop Flores oversaw Hispanic ministry in the Archdiocese and taught theology at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary.
The Diocese of Brownsville encompasses an area of 4,226 square miles, and has a population of 1.1 million, with 995,160 of those being Catholic. There are 160 priests, 65 permanent deacons and 178 religious serving the diocese.
