Oscar Cantú (born December 5, 1966) is a Mexican-American

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

prelate who has served as Bishop of San Jose since 2018. Cantú served as Bishop of Las Cruces from 2013 to 2018, and as an auxiliary bishop of the

Archdiocese of San Antonio The Archdiocese of San Antonio () is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in the United States. It encompasses in the U.S. state of Texas. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio had a self-reported 2018 population of 796,954, ...

from 2008 to 2013. When Cantú became a bishop in 2008, he was the youngest in the

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Biography

Early years

Oscar Cantú was born on December 5, 1966, in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, the son of Ramiro and Maria de Jesus Cantú. He is the fifth of eight children. Oscar Cantú attended Holy Name Catholic School and St. Thomas High School in Houston. He then traveled to Dallas, Texas, to attend the

University of Dallas The University of Dallas is a Private university, private Catholic church, Catholic university in Irving, Texas, United States. Established in 1956, it is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the Southern Associat ...

. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree there. Having decided to become a priest, Cantú entered the University of St. Thomas in Houston, where he received his

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 ...

and Master of Theological Studies degrees. He is fluent in English, Spanish, Italian, and French.

Priesthood

Cantú was ordained a priest at Saint Francis de Sales Church in Houston 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

Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

on May 21, 1994. The archdiocese assigned Cantú as parochial vicar at St. Christopher Parish in Houston. He taught at the University of St. Thomas and at St. Mary's Seminary, and served as pastor of Holy Name Parish. In 1998, Cantú traveled to Rome to attend the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

. He was awarded a

Licentiate in Sacred Theology Licentiate in Sacred Theology (; abbreviated LTh or STL) is the second of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the first being the Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theology) which are conferred ...

and a Doctor of Dogmatic Theology degree there in 2002. Cantú conducted youth retreats in the Christian Family Movement in the archdiocese, and worked with the Engaged Encounter ministry. He was also involved in The Metropolitan Organization (TMO), which addresses

fair housing A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

, immigration, and education.

Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

appointed Cantú titular bishop of Dardanus and auxiliary bishop of San Antonio in 2008. He was consecrated a bishop on June 2, 2008, by Archbishop José Gómez, with Archbishop

and Bishop Joe S. Vásquez serving as co-consecrators. At the time of his consecration, Cantú was the youngest bishop in the United States. He chose as his episcopal motto ''Zelus domus tuae comedit me'' (Zeal for the Lord's house consumes me).

Bishop of Las Cruces

On January 10, 2013, Benedict XVI named Cantú as the second bishop of Las Cruces. He was installed on February 28, 2013. At the time, he was the youngest bishop to head an American diocese. Cantú visited Japan in 2015 for the ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He served as a representative of the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 2001 after the merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic C ...

(USCCB) at the

state visit A state visit is a formal visit by the head of state, head of a sovereign state, sovereign country (or Governor-general, representative of the head of a sovereign country) to another sovereign country, at the invitation of the head of state (or ...

of Pope Francis to Mexico in February 2016.

Bishop of San Jose

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

appointed Cantú as

coadjutor bishop A coadjutor bishop (or bishop coadjutor) ("co-assister" in Latin) is a bishop in the Latin Catholic, Anglican and (historically) Eastern Orthodox churches whose main role is to assist the diocesan bishop in administering the diocese. The coa ...

of San Jose on July 11, 2018, to assist Bishop Patrick J. McGrath. He was installed on September 28, 2018. On May 1, 2019, after McGrath's retirement, Cantú automatically succeeded him as bishop of San Jose. Cantú chaired the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace from 2015 to 2017. In that role, he visited churches in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. These included churches in

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

and the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

that were under great duress. He twice visited Iraq and Cuba. Cantú visited churches in Gaza, Jerusalem,

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, and the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, advocating the Catholic Church position on a

two-state solution The two-state solution is a proposed approach to resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, by creating two states on the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. It is often contrasted with the one-state solution, which is the esta ...

to the conflict between Israel and the

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

. He spoke at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. He called for religious liberty in the Middle East, Indonesia,

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, and India. In November 2020, the

Congregation for Bishops The Dicastery for Bishops, formerly named Congregation for Bishops (), is the department of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church that oversees the selection of most new bishops. Its proposals require papal approval to take effect, but are usu ...

at the Vatican initiated an investigation into Cantu's handling of allegations of clerical sexual abuse and misconduct when he was bishop of Las Cruces. The Congregation is carrying out its investigation under the provisions of Vos estis lux mundi, the 2019

papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

that holds bishops accountable for their handling of sexual abuse cases. As of April 2024, the investigation is ongoing.

Viewpoints

Diversity in the Catholic Church

In a 2022 interview with ''Catholic California Daily'', Cantú questioned why there were so few American bishops of Hispanic ancestry. He said:

“I think we have a distinct opportunity to be bridges from the historical institutional church in the United States to a growing population whose voice has not always been asked for, whose experiences and opinions have not always been sought.”

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose Official SiteRoman Catholic Diocese of Las Cruces Official SiteArchdiocese of San Antonio

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantu, Oscar 1966 births Living people Clergy from Houston Roman Catholic bishops in New Mexico St. Thomas High School (Houston, Texas) alumni University of St. Thomas (Texas) alumni University of Dallas alumni Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Catholics from Texas American people of Mexican descent 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States Bishops appointed by Pope Benedict XVI Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre