Installation Mass Schedule for New Bishop

SAN JUAN, TX -- Bishop Daniel E. Flores will be installed as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Brownsville at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle - National Shrine.

Daniel Cardinal DiNardo will preside over the installation Mass and papal nuncio Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, will read the official decree of the Holy Father announcing the appointment. More than 40 bishops from the United States and Mexico are also expected to be in attendance.

On the eve of the installation, Monday, Feb. 1 Bishop Flores will pray the Solemn Vespers at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral with priests, religious and deacons of the diocese.

Bishop Flores who has been an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit since 2006, replaces Bishop Raymundo J. Peña who is at the mandatory retirement age of 75.

Pope Benedict appointed Bishop Flores as the new shepherd of the diocese on Dec. 9, 2009.

Bishop Peña Welcomes New Shepherd for Church in the Valley

Bishop Daniel E. Flores: “Caminamos juntos en el peregrinaje…”

Bishop Daniel E. Flores was introduced by Bishop Raymundo J. Peña as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Brownsville during a morning news conference Wednesday at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Brownsville.

"I am overjoyed with the choice that Pope Benedict has made," Bishop Peña said.
Bishop Flores comes to the Rio Grande Valley from the Archdiocese of Detroit, where he served as auxiliary bishop for three years. He will be formally installed as bishop during a Mass on February 2, 2010 at the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle in San Juan.

"I am delighted beyond words to have received a call to serve the Church in the Diocese of Brownsville and I pray that the Lord will make me fit for the task at hand, to serve as a good priest, a wise shepherd and compassionate Father to all the people living in the Valley," Bishop Flores said.
Bishop Flores said his family is also happy to have him closer to home. His mother lives in Corpus Christi. He also has three siblings and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews in South Texas.

After the news conference, Bishop Flores took a tour of the Catholic Pastoral Center in Brownsville. Bishop Peña introduced the new bishop to staff members and students from the Catholic Campus Ministry from the University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College.

At age 48, Bishop Flores is one of the youngest bishops in the United States, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He was born in Palacios, Texas and was ordained for the service of the Diocese of Corpus Christi in 1988.

Bishop Flores will lead a flock of almost one million, 120 priests, 65 deacons and 178 religious.
Bishop Peña, who reached retirement age of 75 in February, plans to continue living in the Rio Grande Valley.

"I am grateful to God for all that we have been able to do to build up His Kingdom in the Rio Grande Valley for almost 15 years," Bishop Peña said.

Pope Names New Bishop for Brownsville Diocese

Pope Benedict XVI has named Bishop Daniel Flores, 48, of the Archdiocese of Detroit, as the new bishop for the Diocese of Brownsville. He will be installed as the sixth bishop of the diocese on February 2, 2010.

Bishop Flores, who serves as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Detroit, was ordained a bishop on November 29, 2006 at Detroit’s Blessed Sacrament Cathedral. He was born in Palacios, Texas, baptized in Zapata, Texas, and grew up in Corpus Christi. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Corpus Christi in January 1988. As a priest of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, he served in a number of capacities, including Parochial Vicar at Corpus Christi Cathedral, Secretary to the Bishop, Diocesan Master of Ceremonies, Assistant Chancellor, Rector of the Saint John Vianney House of Studies, and Episcopal Vicar for Vocations.

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.