HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Roberto Octavio González Nieves (born June 2, 1950) is an American Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of San Juan de Puerto Rico since 1999. González previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston from 1988 to 1995, and as Bishop of Corpus Christi from 1997 to 1999 after two years as coadjutor. He devoted his first decade as a priest to pastoral work in the
Bronx, New York City The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County to its north; to its south and west, the New York City boro ...
.


Biography


Early life and education

Roberto González was born in
Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...
. He moved with his family to San Juan and grew up in a parish staffed by Franciscans. He has described himself as "a child of the Puerto Rican diaspora, my emotional and primary homeland". From 1957 to 1964 he attended Academia Santa Monica in Santurce, a district of
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...
, and then began his priestly formation at St. Joseph Seraphic Minor Seminary in Callicoon, New York, from 1964 to 1968. He graduated from
Siena College Siena College is a Private college, private Franciscan college in Loudonville, New York, United States. It was founded by the Order of Friars Minor in 1937 and is named after the Franciscan friar Bernardino of Siena. The college enrolls approxi ...
in Loudonville, New York, in 1973 with a B.A. in English. González was accepted as a candidate for the
Franciscans The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest conte ...
at Christ House in Lafayette, New Jersey, in 1970 and he entered the
novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...
of the Order at St. Francis Friary in
Brookline, Massachusetts Brookline () is an affluent town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and part of the Greater Boston, Boston metropolitan area. An exclave of Norfolk County, Brookline borders six of Boston's neighborhoods: Brighton, Boston, Brighton ...
, in 1971. González professed his first vows on 25 August 1974 and his solemn vows on 21 August 1976. González earned a
Master of Sacred Theology Master of Theology (, abbreviated ThM, MTh or MTheol, or ''Sacrae Theologiae Magister''; abbreviated STM) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a ...
degree in 1977 from the Washington Theological Coalition in Silver Spring, Maryland. He earned a master's degree in 1978 and then his doctorate in 1984, both in sociology, at
Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...
in New York City. His thesis was ''Ecological, Ethnic and Cultural Factors of Church Practice in an Urban Roman Catholic Church''.


Priest

On May 8, 1977, González was ordained a
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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
for the Franciscans by Lorenzo Graziano, Bishop Emeritus of San Miguel in El Salvador, himself a Franciscan. Beginning in 1982, González served at St. Pius V Parish and then from 1986 to 1988 at Holy Cross Parish, both in the
Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
. In 1987, New York City Mayor
Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. Koch was a lifelong Democrat who ...
included González as one of his six appointees to the New York City Police Review Panel.


Bishop

On July 19, 1988,
Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
appointed González an
auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...
of the Archdiocese of Boston and
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 Ursona. He received his episcopal consecration in Boston on October 3, 1988, from Cardinal Bernard Law, with two cardinals as co-consecrators: John O'Connor of New York and Luis Aponte Martínez of San Juan. On May 16, 1995, González was appointed
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 the Diocese of Corpus Christi in Texas by John Paul II. On April 1, 1997, he succeeded as bishop of the diocese upon the retirement of Bishop René Gracida. He served on two committees 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 ...
: Hispanic Affairs and the Church in Latin America.


Archbishop of San Juan

On March 26, 1999, González was appointed archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Juan by John Paul II. He was installed as archbishop on May 8, 1999. Attendees included the mayor of San Juan, Sila Calderón and former Governor
Carlos Romero Barceló Carlos Antonio Romero Barceló (September 4, 1932 – May 2, 2021) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1977 to 1985. He was the second governor to be elected from the New Progressive Party (PNP). He als ...
. González' retiring predecessor, Cardinal Luis Aponte Martínez, observed that the ceremony marked the first time that a Puerto Rican archbishop handed the see over to another Puerto Rican archbishop. Almost immediately, González raised his profile across the island. In September 1999, he joined Rev.
Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (Birth name#Maiden and married names, né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American Civil rights movements, civil rights activist, Politics of the United States, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. Beginning as a ...
at an interfaith prayer service in
East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the eas ...
in New York City, where he preached in Spanish on themes of Puerto Rican nationalism and anti-colonialism. He distanced himself from any specific position on the legal status of Puerto Rico, but said he favored institutions that "foster the national identity of the Puerto Rican people". He has articulated outspoken and often controversial views, particularly in defense of the US Navy-Vieques protests and in his denunciation of
homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...
, among other things. His actions in the Vieques protests won him international notoriety, and he has been viewed as a strong Latin-American leader of the Catholic Church. González has proclaimed his pride in being Puerto Rican, has asked the U.S. Government to work hard to preserve the national identity of Puerto Ricans, and criticized
political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, influen ...
in Puerto Rico. During the spring of 2006, along with several Protestant leaders, he was instrumental in persuading Puerto Rican Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, Senate President
Kenneth McClintock Kenneth Davison McClintock-Hernández (born January 19, 1957) is a politician who served as the twenty-second Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, one of the four longest serving in that post. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s N ...
, and House Speaker
José Aponte Hernández José F. Aponte Hernández (born January 19, 1958) is an accountant and former Speaker of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico. Personal life Aponte was born in San Juan. Graduated from Colegio Católico Notre Dame High School in ...
to resolve Puerto Rico's fiscal crisis, which had sparked a two-week-long government shutdown. ;Apostolic visitation In 2011, González was the target of charges that he was mismanaging the archdiocese. The
Congregation for the Clergy The Dicastery for the Clergy, formerly named Congregation for the Clergy (; formerly the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy and Sacred Congregation of the Council), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for overseeing matters regard ...
, with the backing of 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 ...
, appointed an apostolic visitor, Archbishop Antonio Arregui Yarza of Guayaquil in Ecuador, to conduct an investigation, which he began on October 25. Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, was eventually identified as Gonzalez' "principal and most insistent accuser". Since becoming apostolic delegate to Puerto Rico in 2008, he had clashed repeatedly with González, particularly disturbed, according to , by González' Puerto Rican advocacy. He submitted confidential reports that included claims González had mishandled cases of priests accused of sexual abuse and sold Catholic school property without authorization. González indicated he would contest, in particular, any claim that he had not properly dealt with charges of sexual abuse on the part of priests. As González awaited the results of the investigation, the bishops of Puerto Rico demonstrated their confidence in him by electing him the president of their conference in December 2012. That same month he refused when pressured to resign by Vatican officials, responding instead with a lengthy rebuttal in February 2013. When details of the standoff became public, almost a hundred Catholic organizations formed a coalition to demonstrate their solidarity with González. The Vatican cleared González of all the charges against him in June 2013. In August, Wesolowski was removed as apostolic delegate and the failure of the Vatican to credit his claims against González was thought to explain his departure. Wesolowski was in fact removed because he was suspected of sexually abusing minors. After a canonical trial he was laicized in June 2014. ;Altar of the Homeland In 2013, he succeeded in arranging for the remains of Puerto Rican "founding father"
Ramón Power y Giralt Captain (naval), Captain Ramón Power y Giralt (October 7, 1775 – June 10, 1813) was a Spanish Navy officer and politician. According to historian Lidio Cruz Monclova, Power was among the first native-born Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans to refer ...
(1775–1813) to be transferred from Spain to Puerto Rico. He worked with the Bishop of Cádiz and Ceuta to accomplish this project which had long been frustrated by political infighting and bureaucratic hurdles, despite the fact that Power is recognized as a hero by all of Puerto Rico's political factions. González had prepared a mausoleum chapel alongside the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista to receive the remains of Power and of Juan Alejo de Arizmendi, the first Puerto Rican bishop of San Juan, but in December 2022 Cardinal
Tarcisio Bertone Tarcisio Pietro Evasio Bertone (born 2 December 1934) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church and a Vatican City, Vatican diplomat. A Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal since 2003, he served as Archbishop of Vercelli from 1991 to 1995, as S ...
, the Holy See's Secretary of State, had ordered González not to proceed with the interments and to stop calling the chapel, which Gonzalez inaugurated in 2011, the . Power's remains arrived in San Juan on April 6, 2013; González called the transfer "a boost to our identity" and a moment of clarification for Puerto Rico. By then González could count on support from his friend, the newly elected
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 ...
, and on May 18 the Congregation for Divine Worship told him it had no objection to moving Power's remains into the cathedral. On June 2, González decreed the establishment of the "Chapel of the Holy Christ of the entire Puerto Rican nation" to serve as "a privileged place dedicated to prayer for Puerto Rico, its nation, including its diaspora and all its inhabitants". On June 10, 2013, the 200th anniversary of Power's death in Cádiz, his remains and those of Arizmendi were reinterred in the chapel. González said: "If this Altar of the Homeland leads us to erect an Altar of the Homeland in our hearts, then all this effort has been worth it." ;Other activities Since 2013, filmmaker Richard Rossi has promoted the cause for sainthood of baseball player
Roberto Clemente Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (; August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball player who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, primarily as a right fielder. On December ...
, a process which needs to begin in the Archdiocese of San Juan where Clemente died. Despite periodic false reports of action on the part of the Vatican or Pope Francis, the archdiocese has not confirmed that the process has begun. Rossi has said that Gonzalez "has been less passionate than Pope Francis" about Clemente's chances, but the ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' was unable as of 2017 to establish that the pope is aware of the case. Gonzalez has not made his views known. He attend both sessions of the Synod of Bishops on the Family as president of the Episcopal Conference of Puerto Rico in October 2014 and October 2015. At the 2015 meeting, he described the current practice of divorced and remarried Catholics approaching the priest with their arms crossed to receive a blessing and called it "a manifestation of the desire of sacramental communion" in which "they humble themselves before the community by making clear to all their illegal status; as if to say: Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!" He suggested a pastoral approach that would guide them on a "penitential journey", questioned the requirement that a spouse abandon their partner in an unsanctioned marriage, and underscored "the efficacy of the penitential sacrament as a sacrament of conversion". A close ally of Chicago's Cardinal Blase Cupich, González Nieves was reported as being behind the removal of
Arecibo Arecibo (; ) is a Arecibo barrio-pueblo, city and Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality on the northern coast of Puerto Rico, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, located north of Utuado, Puerto Rico, Utuado and Ciales, Puerto Rico, Ciale ...
bishop Daniel Fernández Torres over a statement he had issued on coronavirus vaccines, as well as his decision not to send seminarians to the island's inter diocesan seminary and disagreements over a 2018 lawsuit involving the archdiocese.


Honors

González has received honorary doctorates from St. Bonaventure University (New York), Universidad Central de Bayamón (Puerto Rico), Siena College (New York), and the Graduate Theological Foundation (Puerto Rico). Regis College in Massachusetts awarded him its Presidential Medal in 2000. Fordham awarded him its Sapientia et Doctrina award in recognition of his contributions to Hispanic ministry in 2009.


See also

*
Catholic Church hierarchy The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons. In the ecclesiological sense of the term, "hierarchy" strictly means the "holy ordering" of the church, the Body of Christ, so to respect the diversity of gif ...
*
Catholic Church in the United States The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion, communion with the pope, who as of 2025 is Chicago, Illinois-born Pope Leo XIV, Leo XIV. With 23 percent of the United States' population , t ...
* Historical list of the Catholic bishops of Puerto Rico *
Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
* List of Catholic bishops of the United States *
Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops This is a directory of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops across various Christian denominations. To find an individual who was a bishop, see the most relevant article linked below or :Bishops. Lists Catholic * Bishops in the Catholic Chu ...


References


External links


Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan de Puerto Rico
(Official Site in Spanish) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez Nieves, Roberto 1950 births Living people Religious leaders from Texas 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Puerto Rico People from San Juan, Puerto Rico Siena College alumni Fordham University alumni Washington Theological Union alumni American Friars Minor Puerto Rican sociologists Franciscan bishops Roman Catholic archbishops of San Juan de Puerto Rico