Myron Joseph Cotta (born March 21, 1953) 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 was appointed as the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Stockton in California by

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. ...

on January 23, 2018. His installation

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

was celebrated on March 15, 2018 at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in

Modesto Modesto () is the county seat and largest city of Stanislaus County, California, United States. With a population of 218,464 at the 2020 census, it is the 19th largest city in the state of California and forms part of the Sacramento-Stockton- ...

, California.

Biography

Early life

Cotta was born in

Dos Palos, California Dos Palos (Spanish for "Two Timbers") is a city in Merced County, California, United States. Dos Palos is located south-southwest of Merced, the county seat, at an elevation of . The population was 5,798 at the 2020 census, up from 4,950 at the ...

and was educated in public and Catholic schools. He received an

associates degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

from

West Hills College Coalinga West Hills College Coalinga is a public community college in Coalinga, California, with a satellite facility in Firebaugh. Both locations serve students in the central San Joaquin Valley. Established in 1932, West Hills College Coaling is in the ...

in Coalinga, California.He studied for the priesthood at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, California. He is fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Priesthood

Cotta was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Fresno on September 12, 1987. After his ordination, Cotta served several pastoral assignments in California parishes: *

Parochial vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

at St. Anthony in Atwater from 1987 to 1989 * Administrator of Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Laton from 1989 to 1992 *

Pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of Our Lady of Miracles Parish in Gustine from 1992 to 1999. Following his pastoral assignments, Cotta served as the

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

and

moderator of the curia Moderator of the curia is a top administrative position held by a Catholic priest in a diocese under the supervision of the bishop. The moderator coordinates the exercise of the administrative duties and oversees the office holders, or curia, in ...

for the diocese.

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 ...

named Cotta a

chaplain of his holiness A Chaplain of His Holiness is a priest to whom the Pope has granted this title. They are addressed as Monsignor and have certain privileges with respect to ecclesiastical dress and vestments.monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

, in 2002.

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

named him a

prelate of honor A Prelate of Honour of His Holiness is a Catholic prelate to whom the Pope has granted this title of honour. They are addressed as Monsignor and have certain privileges as regards clerical clothing.

appointed Cotta to be an auxiliary bishop of the

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 ...

on January 24, 2014. He was also named

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of ''Muteci''. He was consecrated in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento on March 25, 2014 by Bishop

Jaime Soto Jaime Soto (born December 31, 1955) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church, Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, Diocese of Sacramento in Northern California since 2007. He ...

. Bishop Armando Ochoa and Bishop José de Jesús Madera Uribe were the principal co-consecrators.

Bishop of Stockton

On January 23, 2018,

named Cotta as bishop of the Diocese of Stockton. He was installed on March 15, 2018. At his installation mass, attendees included Archbishop

Salvatore Cordileone Salvatore Joseph Cordileone (born June 5, 1956) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church and the archbishop of Archdiocese of San Francisco in California since 2012. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Oakland in California ...

and Archbishop Christophe Pierre.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Stockton Official Website

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cotta, Myron J. 1953 births Living people People from Merced County, California St. John's Seminary (California) alumni 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento Roman Catholic bishops of Stockton American people of Portuguese descent Bishops appointed by Pope Francis