A Catholic priest who has long served the Modesto area will become a bishop down south
The Rev. Ramon Bejarano, who has served at three Catholic parishes in Stanislaus County, will become the auxiliary bishop in San Diego.
The appointment by Pope Francis was announced Thursday by the Diocese of Stockton, where Bejarano, 50, has spent his entire career.
He will be consecrated April 21 and serve as auxiliary to Bishop Robert McElroy in the Diocese of San Diego. It covers San Diego and Imperial counties.
“It is with great pride and joy — but also some sadness — that we see Fr. Bejarano achieve this tremendous honor,” Stockton Bishop Myron Cotta said in a news release.
Bejarano has served since October 2019 as pastor at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton, next to the diocese headquarters. That followed 11 years at St. Stanislaus Church in Modesto.
Bejarano was the founding pastor in 2005 at Holy Family Church in Modesto. He had earlier stints at Sacred Heart Church in Turlock and at St. George’s Church in Stockton. He was ordained in 1998.
Bejarano was born in Seagraves, Texas, and spent his early years in Aldama, Chihuahua, Mexico. His family moved in the late 1980s to Tracy, where he did farm labor and hotel maintenance. He then decided to study for the priesthood, first at the Diocesan Seminary of Tijuana and then at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon.
The bishop-elect has served as chaplain to the Migrant Ministry and the Spanish Catholic Radio, among other leadership roles in the Stockton Diocese. It takes in San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Calaveras, Alpine and Mono counties.
“Our Holy Father has chosen very wisely in selecting this outstanding priest, a loving shepherd of God’s people and a friend to many in our diocese and community,” Cotta said. “He goes to this holy post with our gratitude, our love and our prayers.”
This story was originally published February 27, 2020 at 5:35 PM.
