SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 10, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — The Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City will soon have a new bishop.
Pope Francis has picked Bishop Oscar Azarcon Solis as the new spiritual leader for Utah’s 300,000 Catholics. He’ll replace Utah’s former Catholic bishop, John C. Wester, who left Salt Lake City after being named archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2015, according to a diocese press release.
Solis, 64, is currently an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Episcopal Vicar for the San Pedro Region.
Born Oct. 13, 1953 in San Jose, Nueva Ecija, Philippines, Solis became an ordained priest in 1979.
He served in the Archdiocese of Manila and the Diocese of Cabanatuan before ministering in the United States in the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey. He also served in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana.
On Feb. 10, 2004, Father Solis was ordained an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Five years later, he was named Episcopal Vicar for the San Pedro Region and is the first Filipino-American bishop ordained in the United States.
Solis’ official Installation will be held at the Cathedral of the Madeleine Tuesday, March 7, 2017.
He is scheduled is to be introduced at a press conference Tuesday morning.
