I am asking for your prayers for Bishop Richard Garcia, Bishop of Monterey. Bishop Garcia has passed away.  The bishop was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease but no official cause of death has been announced.

Bishop Garcia was born in San Francisco in 1947 to immigrant parents from Mexico. He completed his studies for the priesthood at Saint Joseph College in Mountain View and at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California.  He was ordained to the priesthood on June 15, 1973 for the Archdiocese of San Francisco at Sacred Heart Parish in San Jose, California.

In 1997, while serving as the pastor of Saint Leo the Great Parish in San Jose and as the diocesan director for vocations, Pope John Paul II named him auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento.  He was consecrated on January 28, 1998 at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament; Bishop William Weigand served as his principal consecrator, with Archbishop John R. Quinn and Bishop Pierre DuMaine as his principal co-consecrators.  Bishop Garcia was appointed to his current position as Bishop of Monterey on December 19, 2006 and was installed on January 30, 2007.

Bishop Garcia has been a tremendous supporter of the Knights of Columbus throughout his time in Monterey, working closely with the St. Junipero Serra Chapter and with the California State Council.

Bishop Garcia was a member of Monterey Council 1465 and Santa Rosalia Assembly 77. Please keep the Garcia family in your prayers.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

​Fraternally,​

Joseph C. Salaiz
State Deputy