San Diego Catholic bishop dies after battle with cancer

By Victoria Cavaliere (Reuters) - Roman Catholic Bishop Cirilo Flores, the first Hispanic bishop to preside over San Diego's nearly one million Catholics, died Saturday after a battle with cancer, according to church officials. He was 66. "Bishop Cirilo Flores passed away peacefully at 2:47 this afternoon at Nazareth House in San Diego," the Diocese of San Diego said in a statement. "Please remember Bishop Flores and his family in your prayers." Bishop Flores was the first Hispanic bishop to lead the church in San Diego, a city where one-third of all residents are of Latino heritage, according to U.S. Census data. Nearly a half of all Catholics in the United States are Latinos, according to the Center for the Study of Latino/a Catholicism at the University of San Diego. Bishop Flores served in the post just less than a year, according to his official biography. His service was marked by a commitment to youth and the disadvantaged, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. "He had this joy of service," Sister RayMonda DuVall, executive director of Catholic Charities, told the newspaper. "He was a man who had a lot of joy," she said. In 2012, former Pope Benedict appointed Bishop Flores to serve as Coadjuster Bishop of the Diocese of San Diego until the resignation of Bishop Robert Brom, who stepped down at the age of 75, as required by church law. Pope Francis accepted Bishop Brom's resignation in 2013, making Bishop Flores the fifth Bishop of San Diego, his biography said. Born in Corona, California, southeast of Los Angeles, Bishop Flores was a graduate of Loyola Marymount University and Stanford University law school. He was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Orange in 1991, serving there for 18 years. Details regarding his funeral rites will be announced "as soon as they become available," the Diocese of San Diego said. (Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in Seattle; Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Robert Birsel)