| Styles of Alphonse Gallegos |
|
|---|---|
| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Monsignor |
| Posthumous style | Servant of God |
Alphonse Gallegos (February 20, 1931 – October 6, 1991), OAR, was a Roman Catholic bishop who was declared a Servant of God in July 2008.[1]
Contents |
Gallegos was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico where his father was a carpenter, and his mother a homemaker caring for their 11 children. He had a twin brother, Eloy,[2] grew up in Watts, attended Manual Arts High School and received confirmation from then auxiliary bishop Timothy Manning.[3] Gallegos, as a twin, was so intent on becoming a priest he built an altar in his parents' home.[4]
Gallegos attended Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Tomas College and St. John's University in New York and Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.[5] While a seminarian at the Tagaste Monastery in Suffern, New York, his superiors learned that Gallegos was born with a severe myopic condition.[6] He had eye surgery prior to entering the seminary but wore "Coke bottle thick glasses with his clerical garb" and was nearly blind.[7]
Gallegos was ordained a Roman Catholic priest for the Augustinian Recollects on May 24, 1958. From 1970 to 1979 he served as pastor of San Miguel and Cristo Rey parishes in the Los Angeles diocese.[8] He was transferred to Sacramento where Gallegos served from 1979 to 1981 as the first director of the Division of Hispanic Affairs of the California Catholic Conference.[9][10]
On August 24, 1981, Pope John Paul II appointed Gallegos auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, in Sacramento, California as the titular bishop of Sasabe.[11] He was ordained bishop on November 4, 1981 by Bishop Francis Quinn.[12][13]
Gallegos was the principal co-consecrator of Bishop David Arias Pérez, OAR, of the Archdiocese of Newark[14] on April 7, 1983.[15]
On Oct. 6, 1991, Gallegos died when he was struck by a car[16] by the side of the road while returning to Sacramento from Gridley, California.[17][18] Because he was known as "the bishop of the barrio",[19] approximately 300 lowrider cars drove in a procession before the bishop’s funeral Mass at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.[20] The bishop was considered as an unofficial chaplain to lowriders and migrant workers.[21]
In 2005, after eleven months of scrutiny, the cause for Gallegos beatification was opened by Bishop William Weigand.[22]
In 2009 it was reported that the cause for Gallegos would be advanced. A testimony of his virtues along with reports of miracles attributed to the bishop's intercession will be presented to the Vatican.[23]
On March 24, 2010, Gallegos' body was exhumed and transferred to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament at the request of the Augustinian Recollects.[24] This movement is being done as part of his cause towards sainthood.[25] On March 25, 2010, his remains were transferred to the parish he resided in as an auxiliary bishop.[26] This parish is the Sanctuary of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe also known as Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe[27] in Sacramento. Along with Bishop Eugene O'Connell, he would be the second Sacramento area bishop whose remains were moved.[28] If declared a saint, he would become Sacramento's first one.[29]
Because he was a Knight and supporter of the unborn, Bishop Gallegos Assembly 2336 [30] and Bishop Gallegos Maternity Home [31] are named for him. In 1997, the city of Sacramento erected a statue of the bishop and named the surrounding square area in his memory.[32]
| Episcopal lineage | |
| Consecrated by: | Francis Quinn |
| Consecrator of | |
|---|---|
| Bishop | Date of consecration |
| David Arias Pérez | April 7, 1983 |
| Stages of canonization in the Catholic Church |
|---|
| Servant of God → Venerable → Blessed → Saint |