OAR
An oar is an implement used for water-borne propulsion. Oars have a flat blade at one end. Rowers grasp the oar at the other end.
The difference between oars and paddles is that oars are used exclusively for rowing. In rowing the oar is connecte ...
(February 20, 1931 – October 6, 1991), was an American
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
prelate who served as Auxiliary Bishop of Sacramento from 1981 until his death in 1991. He was nicknamed the "Bishop of the Barrios."
His cause for canonization was opened in 2006 and on 8 July 2016,
Pope Francis
Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
named him
Venerable
The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism.
Christianity
Cathol ...
in recognition of his
heroic virtue
Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...
.
Early life
Gallegos was born in
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
, where his father was a
carpenter
Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. ...
, and his mother a
homemaker
Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a hous ...
caring for their 11 children. He had a twin brother, Eloy, grew up in
Watts
Watts is plural for ''watt'', the unit of power.
Watts may also refer to:
People
*Watts (surname), list of people with the surname Watts Fictional characters
*Watts, main character in the film '' Some Kind of Wonderful''
*Watts family, six chara ...
, attended
Manual Arts High School
Manual Arts High School is a secondary public school in Los Angeles, California, United States.
History
Manual Arts High School was founded in 1910 in the middle of bean fields, one-half mile from the nearest bus stop. It was the third high scho ...
and received
confirmation
In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...
from then auxiliary bishop Timothy Manning. The family attended San Miguel parish, which was run by the
Order of Augustinian Recollects
The Order of Augustinian Recollects (OAR) is a mendicant Catholic religious order of friars and nuns. It is a reformist offshoot from the Augustinian hermit friars and follows the same Rule of St. Augustine.
History
The Order was founded in 1 ...
.
Gallegos attended
Rockhurst University
Rockhurst University is a private Jesuit university in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 as Rockhurst College, Rockhurst University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. It enrolled 2,980 students in 2019.
History
In 1909, Fr. ...
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...
in Los Angeles. He entered the Order of Augustinian Recollects as a novice in 1950.
While a seminarian at the Tagaste Monastery in
Suffern, New York
Suffern is a village that was incorporated in 1796 in the town of Ramapo in Rockland County, New York. Suffern is located 31 miles northwest of Manhattan. As of the 2010 census, Suffern's population was 10,723.myopic condition. Although he had eye surgery prior to entering the
seminary
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
, his vision remained poor. Gallegos was
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...
a Roman Catholic
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
for the Augustinian Recollects on May 24, 1958.
He spent eight years at Tagaste serving as chaplain at neighboring hospitals and religious communities and served in various capacities in his order's houses of formation. In 1972 he became pastor of San Miguel in Watts, and in 1978 of Cristo Rey in Glendale in the
Archdiocese of Los Angeles
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles ( la, Archidiœcesis Angelorum in California, es, Arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in th ...
. He was an advisor to Los Angeles Cardinal Timothy Manning on Hispanic affairs and helped set up a training program for the archdiocese's Hispanic permanent diaconate.Boll, John E. "Bishop Alphonse Napoleon Gallegos, OAR", Sacramento Diocesan Archives /ref>
He was transferred to the Diocese of Sacramento where Gallegos served from 1979 to 1981 as the first director of the Division of Hispanic Affairs of the California Catholic Conference.
Auxiliary bishop
On August 24, 1981,
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento
The Diocese of Sacramento is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern California region of the United States. The diocese's see is Sacramento, it is led by a bishop who pastors the mother church of ...
, in
Sacramento, California
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...
Francis Quinn
Francis Anthony Quinn (September 11, 1921 – March 21, 2019) was an American Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento from 1980 to 1993.
Background
Born in Los Angeles, California, he graduated from St. ...
On October 6, 1991, Gallegos died when he was struck by a car while returning to Sacramento from
Gridley, California
Gridley is a city in Butte County, California, United States, south of Chico, California and north of Sacramento, California. The 2019 State of California population estimate was 7,224. California State Route 99 runs through Gridley and Inters ...
. Gallegos and his driver had stopped to help a stranded motorist. Other accounts say that their car suddenly lost power and stopped in the left lane. As the men began to push the car off the road and onto the median, another car slammed into their vehicle, throwing the bishop some 50 feet to the right shoulder. Gallegos died instantly. He was considered an unofficial chaplain to lowriders and
migrant workers
A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work.
Migrant workers who work outsi ...
scrutiny
Scrutiny (French: ''scrutin''; Late Latin: ''scrutinium''; from ''scrutari'', meaning "those who search through piles of rubbish in the hope of finding something of value" and originally from the Latin "scruta," meaning "broken things, rags, or ...
, the cause for Gallegos'
beatification
Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...
was opened by Bishop
William Weigand
William Keith Weigand (born May 23, 1937) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento in California from 1993 to 2008. Weigand previously served as the bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lak ...
. He was declared a
Servant of God
"Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint.
Terminology
The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...
on June 5, 2006.
On March 24, 2010, Gallegos's body was exhumed and transferred to the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament as part of his cause towards
sainthood
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Orth ...
. On March 25, 2010, his remains were transferred to the parish he resided in as an auxiliary bishop. This parish is the
Sanctuary
A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...
of the National
Shrine
A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...
of
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Our Lady of Guadalupe ( es, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe ( es, Virgen de Guadalupe), is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus associated with a series of five Marian apparitions, which are believed t ...
also known as Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe in Sacramento.
On July 8, 2016, Pope Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a decree recognizing the heroic virtues of Servant of God Alphonse Gallegos and naming him Venerable.Pope Francis, "Decree on the virtues of the Venerable Bishop Alphonse Gallegos, OAR," July 8, 2016, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
Legacy
I would like to be remembered as having helped the young people how to appreciate who they are and to value the life God has given them. I would also like to be remembered as having appreciated people and all that they have to offer in making the world a better place to live in.
Because he was a member of the
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...
and supporter of the unborn, Bishop Gallegos Assembly 2336 and Bishop Gallegos Maternity Home are named for him.
The city of Sacramento named a section of Eleventh St. between K and L Streets the Gallegos Square in his memory. In 1997, a statue of Bishop Gallegos was unveiled in Gallegos Square next to the cathedral.