Most Reverend Gilberto E. Chávez
Birth Date: May 9, 1932
Birth Place: Ontario, California
Ordained: March 19, 1960
Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego: April 16, 1974
Consecrated: June 21, 1974
Retired: July 1, 2007
Died: March 15, 2020
Birth Place: Ontario, California
Ordained: March 19, 1960
Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego: April 16, 1974
Consecrated: June 21, 1974
Retired: July 1, 2007
Died: March 15, 2020
Bishop Robert W. McElroy’s statement on March 16 2020:
“It is with a sense of deepest sadness that I announce the death of Bishop Gilbert Chavez yesterday morning at Nazareth House. I was able to offer the prayers of commendation with the Bishop’s family immediately after his death, and we were all filled with a profound sense of thanksgiving for Bishop Chavez’s life of priestly service to God and the people of our diocese. As many of you know, Bishop Chavez was only the second Hispanic bishop appointed in the United States, and thus was part of the foundational episcopal leadership that forged the pathway for a Church in which the Latino community forms the very heart of the Catholic community in our nation.”