Brendan John Cahill (born November 28, 1963) is an American

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church 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 ...

. He has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Victoria in Texas since 2015.

Early life

Brendan John Cahill was born on November 28, 1963, in

Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Coral Gables is known globally as home to the ...

. He attended St. Cecilia Catholic School and graduated from St. Thomas High School in Houston, Texas. He spent a year at

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

before he entered St. Mary's Seminary/

University of St. Thomas St. Thomas University or University of St. Thomas may refer to: *Saint Thomas Aquinas University, Colombia *Saint Thomas Aquinas University of the North, Tucumán province, Argentina *St. Thomas University (Canada), Fredericton, New Brunswick *St. ...

, both in Houston. Cahill earned a

Bachelor of Psychology A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...

degree in 1985.

Priesthood

Cahill was ordained a priest by Archbishop

Joseph Fiorenza Joseph Anthony Fiorenza (January 25, 1931 – September 19, 2022) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He was the seventh bishop and the first archbishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas, serving from 1985 to 2006 ...

for the Diocese of Galveston-Houston on May 19, 1990. That same year, he received a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...

degree from St. Thomas. After his ordination, Cahill served as

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

at St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Houston. In 1992, he was transferred to Christ the Good Shepherd Parish in

Spring, Texas Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Houston in Harris County, Texas, United States, part of the metropolitan area. The population was 62,559 at the 2020 census. While the name "Spring" is popul ...

, serving there until 1998. Cahill received a

Master of Theology Master of Theology ( la, Theologiae Magister, abbreviated MTh, ThM, or MTheol) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a PhD program or as a stand ...

degree in 1993 from

Xavier University of Louisiana Xavier University of Louisiana (also known as XULA) is a Private university, private, Historically black colleges and universities, historically black, Roman Catholic, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic HBCU ...

, specializing on the experience and theology of African-American Catholics. In 1998, he joined joined the faculty of St. Mary Seminary. In 1999, Cahill was awarded a Doctorate in

Dogmatic Theology Dogmatic theology, also called dogmatics, is the part of theology dealing with the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and God's works, especially the official theology recognized by an organized Church body, such as the Roman Catholic Ch ...

from the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

in Rome. He then returned to Houston to teach at St. Mary Seminary. Cahill was appointed rector of St. Mary in 2001. That same year, he became the director of the Secretariat for Clergy Formation and Chaplaincy Services of the archdiocese. He speaks English, Spanish and Italian, and has a working knowledge of French and German. Cahill also served as an associate chaplain of the

Knights of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

, of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher, and he is a fourth degree 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. ...

Bishop of Victoria

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 Cahill as bishop of the Diocese of Victoria on April 23, 2015. He was installed and consecrated on June 29, 2015 by Cardinal

Daniel DiNardo Daniel Nicholas DiNardo (born May 23, 1949) is an American Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the second and current archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston ...

. Archbishop

and Bishop David Fellhauer were the co-consecrators. The liturgy was celebrated in Our Lady of Victory Cathedral in Victoria. On January 21, 2019, Cahill publicly named three priests from the diocese with credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors. The investigation, run by an outside attorney covered all allegations dating back to the founding of the diocese in 1982. One priest, David L. Collela, was retired and a second priest, Guido Miguel Quiroz Reyes, was deceased. The third priest, Alfred Prado, had been

laicized In the canon law of the Catholic Church, the loss of clerical state (commonly referred to as laicization, dismissal, defrocking, and degradation) is the removal of a bishop, priest, or deacon from the status of being a member of the clergy. The t ...

and left the country.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Victoria Official Site

Episcopal succession