Randolph Roque Calvo is an America prelate 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 ...

. Calvo served as the seventh bishop of the

Diocese of Reno The Diocese of Reno is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in the northern Nevada region of the United States, centered on the city of Reno. The diocese is composed of 12 counties in Nevada. The See of Reno ...

in Nevada from 2006 until 2021

Biography

Early life

Randolph Calvo was born on August 28, 1951, in Agaña, Guam, the youngest of seven children. The family later moved to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

where he attended elementary school. Calvo completed his clerical formation at

Saint Joseph College Seminary St. Joseph College Seminary was a college of Loyola University Chicago and the college seminary of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. In January 2019, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of the Archdiocese announced that the seminary would close ...

in Mountain View, California, and at Saint Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, California. In 1986, Calvo earned a Doctor of Canon Law degree at the

Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) A pontifical ( la, pontificale) is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy O ...

in Rome with a dissertation entitled ''Consultation and the Presbyterial Council: new emphasis in the ratio legis''.

Priesthood

On May 21, 1977, Calvo was ordained by Archbishop

John Raphael Quinn John Raphael Quinn (March 28, 1929 – June 22, 2017) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of San Francisco from 1977 to 1995 and Archbishop of Oklahoma City (and Bishop of the predecessor Diocese) from 1971 ...

as a priest for the Archdiocese of San Francisco. After his ordination, Calvo was assigned as

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 Holy Name of Jesus Parish in San Francisco. In 1979, he was moved to Saint Pius Parish in Redwood City California. In 1982, Calvo went to Rome to study

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

. He returned in 1986 to San Francisco to serve as adjutant judicial vicar of the archdiocesan

tribunal A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a single ...

. In 1987, he became judicial vicar. In 1997, Calvo was appointed pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Redwood City. He also taught canon law at St Patrick' Seminary and University in Menlo Park, California.

Bishop of Reno

On December 23, 2005,

Pope Benedict VI Pope Benedict VI ( la, Benedictus VI; died June 974) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 19 January 973 to his death in 974. His brief pontificate occurred in the political context of the establishment of the Holy Roman Emp ...

appointed Calvo as bishop of the Diocese of Reno. He was consecrated on February 17, 2006, at the Hilton Hotel Pavilion in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

. Archbishop George H. Neiderauer was the principal consecrator, accompanied by co-consecrators Bishop Phillip F. Straling and Bishop John C. Wester. On September 30, 2009, Calvo was named in a lawsuit by Richard DeMolen, the former pastor of Our Lady of Tahoe Catholic Parish in Zephyr Cove, Nevada. Calvo had fired DeMolen because the priest had refused to remove a restraining order he filed against a diocesan deacon. DeMolen claimed the deacon had sent him a death threat, which Calvo never investigated. The lawsuit was dismissed on April 11, 2010. On October 22, 2010, Calvo placed Tom Cronin, a priest at St. Mary’s in the Mountains Parish in

Virginia City, Nevada Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City developed as a boom ...

, on leave due to a sexual abuse allegation from Missouri. On October 1, 2010, Calvo had read that Cronin was being sued in Kansas City, Missouri, by a woman who claimed he molested at age 17 in Hamilton, Missouri. Calvo was criticized for not suspending Cronin immediately.

Retirement

On July 20, 2021, Calvo submitted his letter of resignation as bishop of Reno to

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. ...

. The pope named Auxiliary Bishop Daniel H. Mueggenborg as Calvo's successor.

Coat of Arms

Calvo's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

depicts in the dexter impalement the diocesan arms of Reno. The sinister impalement depicts the Golden Gate Bridge, symbolizing the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

where he exercised his presbyteral ministry. The bridge is placed over a field of wavy lines symbolic of Calvo's affinity to the water and the outdoor environment. In base a latte stone for Guam, where he was born. His episcopal motto, "Come Creator Spirit," is placed at the bottom of the shield and derives from the ancient

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hy ...

attributed to Rabanus Maurus, ''Veni Creator Spiritus''.

Gallery

File:Fr Lucio Zuniga Rocha ordination at Little Flower Reno Nevada .jpg, Bishop Calvo ordaining Father Lucio Zuniga Rocha at the Saint Therese of the Little Flower Catholic Church in Reno.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of Reno Official SiteVatican News Service, Bulletin, December 23, 2005KESQ News Release on Bishop Calvo
*[https://archive.today/20060302055857/http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060217/NEWS10/602160374/1016/NEWS ''Reno Gazette Journal'', February 17, 2006 Episcopal Ordination and Installation of Msgr. Randolph Calvo] {{DEFAULTSORT:Calvo, Randolph Saint Patrick's Seminary and University alumni Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Francisco Canon law jurists People from Hagåtña, Guam 1950 births Living people Roman Catholic bishops of Reno 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States