Chapter 11

The Most Reverend

MICHAEL M. PHAM

BISHOP OF SAN DIEGO

A clergymember in black religious attire with red accents and a pink sash, wearing glasses and a cross necklace, smiles with hands clasped.

Key Dates

Birth Date:  
Jan. 22, 1967 

Birth Place:
Da Nang, Vietnam 

Ordained: 
June 25, 1999 in the Diocese of San Diego

Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego: 
June 6, 2023

Consecrated:
Sept. 28, 2023 

Appointed Bishop of San Diego:
May 22, 2025

Installed as Bishop of San Diego:
July 17, 2025

About the Coat of Arms

About Bishop Pham

Pope Leo XIV named Bishop Michael Pham the seventh bishop of San Diego on May 22, 2025, the nation’s first Vietnamese American bishop. He was installed on July 17 of that year.

 

The diocese spans San Diego and Imperial counties, and is home to 96 parishes, 39 Catholic elementary schools and seven Catholic high schools.

 

Fulfilling the traditional role of shepherd, Bishop Pham serves three main functions: teaching the doctrine, sanctifying, and governing. Embracing a spirit of synodality, Bishop Pham invites the participation of all — auxiliary bishops, clergy, religious men and women and laity — in building the Kingdom of God.

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Early Years

Bishop Pham fled Vietnam as a 13-year-old refugee in 1980, accompanied by his older sister and a younger brother, arriving first at a refugee camp in Malaysia, before being sponsored a year later in 1981 by an American family and relocating to Blue Earth, MN. A few months later, another sister came to live with them and in 1983 the remainder of his family – four more siblings and his parents – arrived in Minnesota. His family moved to San Diego in 1985.

A group of people, including several children, stand near an airplane with a visible staircase. They are dressed in jackets, and one adult is wearing a bright yellow jacket, smiling at the camera.
A group of people, including adults and children, stand on steps in front of a building entrance. They are dressed in formal and traditional clothing, with one child in a red patterned outfit and another in a blue suit. Some hold a young child.

Ordination and Service

He graduated from San Diego State University with a bachelor’s and started a master’s degree in aerospace engineering before transferring to St. Francis Seminary at the University of San Diego. He completed his seminary training at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park with Systematic Theology Baccalaureate and Master of Divinity degrees. He was ordained a priest of the San Diego Diocese in 1999. In 2009, he completed a Master of Science in Psychology. In 2020, he completed a Licentiate in Sacred Theology with a specialization in New Evangelization.

 

Bishop Pham served as associate pastor of St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish; diocesan vocations director; and pastor of Holy Family, St. Therese and Good Shepherd Parishes.

 

He also has served on the College of Consultors, Diocesan Finance Council, Presbyteral Council, Personnel Board of Priests, Seminary Board, Priests Retirement Pension, Diaconate Council, Executive Board, Vicar for Ethnic and Intercultural Communities, and Vicar General.

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About the Coat of Arms

Bishop Pham’s coat of arms combines the Diocese of San Diego’s coat of arms on the left side, and his on the right. On his, a red boat on a blue ocean sits on diagonal lines suggesting a fisherman’s net. This symbolizes his ministry as a “fisher of men,” as well as how his own father had been a fisherman. The boat is also a symbol of the Church, which is referred to as the “barque of Peter.” At the center of the sail is a red beehive (a symbol of the bishop’s baptismal patron saint, St. John Chrysostom, known as a “honey-tongued” preacher). The beehive is surrounded by two green palm branches (an ancient symbol of martyrdom; the bishop’s ancestors were among Vietnam’s first martyrs). The eight red tongues of fire around the boat are a symbol of the Holy Spirit and a representation of the diversity of ethnic communities.

About the Coat of Arms

Bishop Pulido’s coat of arms is divided into four quarters with wavy horizontal lines from top to bottom. The blue and white lines represent the Blessed Virgin Mary. They also suggest water, which alludes to Jesus washing the feet of His disciples and to the waters of baptism. The red and gold lines represent the Holy Spirit and fire. The colors also can be seen as referring to the Blood that (along with water) poured from Jesus’ side at His crucifixion, as well as to the bread (gold) and wine (red) transformed into the Eucharist. At the center is a roundel featuring a symbolic representation of the “mandatum” (washing of the feet), which he believes exemplifies service to all humanity. The roundel’s outer edge is a line composed of small humps; it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Diocese of Yakima, where Bishop Pulido served as a priest before being named a bishop.

About the Coat of Arms

The coat of arms combines symbols that reflect Bishop Bejarano’s spiritual life and priestly ministry. The main part of the shield shows four wavy vertical lines on a gold background. These represent flowing waters. This alludes to his chosen motto and also symbolizes the graces that come from the Divine life to quench our thirst for God. The upper third of the shield is red because it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Order of Mercy, of which the Bishop’s patron saint, Raymond Nonnatus, was a member. The central symbol resembles a monstrance because St. Raymond is often depicted holding one. The Eucharist is Bishop Bejarano’s inspiration for his vocation. It was through the Eucharist that he received his call to the priesthood at age seven and which keeps his faith and his ministry going. It represents the call to offer oneself as a living sacrifice. The monstrance is flanked on either side by an image of the Sacred Heart, alluding to the mercy of God and echoing the idea of a sacrificial offering of oneself united to the sacrifice of Christ, and of a rose for Our Lady. It is an allusion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, and highlights the bishop’s Hispanic heritage.

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