Bishop-designate Nevares, 56, who is also the vice rector of the Josephinum Pontifical College in Columbus, will also be the first Hispanic bishop to serve the Diocese of Phoenix.
Eduardo Nevares was born in San Antonio, Texas, but his parents and his four older siblings were born in Mexico, reported the Catholic Sun newspaper of the Diocese of Phoenix.
He was ordained a priest in 1981 for the Missionaries of Our Lady of LaSalette, and in 2007 he was incardinated into the Diocese of Tyler.
Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix told the Catholic Sun that the appointment of Bishop-designate Nevares during the Year for Priests is «significant» as 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.”
Of the 4.41 million inhabitants of Phoenix, some 706,433 are Catholic. The diocese counts with 318 priests, 269 permanent deacons and 317 religious.
