José Arturo Cepeda Escobedo (May 15, 1969) is a

Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

prelate of the

Roman Catholic Church 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 ...

who has been serving as 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. ...

for the

Archdiocese of Detroit The Archdiocese of Detroit () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church covering the south-east portion of Michigan in the United States. The archdiocese consists counties of Lapeer County, Michigan, Lap ...

in Michigan since 2011.

Biography

Early life

Jose Cepeda was born in San Luis Potosi City in Mexico on May 15, 1969, to Jose Cepeda and Maria del Socorro Escobedo. He attended Catholic primary and secondary schools in his city run by the Brothers and Sisters of Joseph. After spending a year of spiritual formation, Cepeda entered the Seminario Guadalupano Josefino in San Luis Potosi. After his family immigrated to

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, Cepeda continued his seminary studies at

Our Lady of the Lake University Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU), known locally as the Lake, is a private Catholic university in San Antonio, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1895 by the Sisters of Divine Providence, a religious institute originating in Lorraine, ...

in the city. He then entered College Seminary of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

, earning a Bachelor of Religious Studies' degree with a minor in psychology. After returning to San Antonio, Cepeda obtained a

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 ...

degree from Assumption Seminary.

Priesthood

On June 1, 1996, Cepeda was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop

Patrick Flores Patricio Fernández Flores (July 26, 1929 – January 9, 2017) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served from 1979 to 2004 as archbishop of the Archdiocese of San Antonio in Texas, bishop of the Diocese of El Paso in Texas f ...

for 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, ...

at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in San Antonio. After his ordination, the archdiocese assigned Cepeda as parochial vicar at St. Magdalen Parish in San Antonio. During this period, he received a Master of Biblical Theology degree from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio The archdiocese then sent Cepeda to Rome to study at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. In 2005, 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 ...

(STL) and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology (STD) degrees, defending his dissertation in Spiritual Theology. After returning to Texas, Cepeda was assigned teaching and formation responsibilities at Assumption Seminary and the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio. He also served as vocation director and faculty member for the Transitional Ministry Formation Program for the archdiocese, and as a member of the formation faculty of the St. Peter upon the Water Center in Ingram, Texas. Archbishop Jose Gómez appointed Cepeda as vice rector of Assumption Seminary in 2009 and rector in 2010.

Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit

Cepeda was appointed titular bishop of Tagase and auxiliary bishop of Detroit on April 18, 2011, by

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 ...

. He was installed and consecrated at the

Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament The Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament is a Neo-Gothic style Roman Catholic cathedral church in the United States. It is the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit. The metropolitan archdiocese for the Roman Ca ...

in Detroit by Archbishop Allen Vigneron on May 5, 2011, with Archbishop John Nienstedt and Bishop John Quinn serving as co-consecrators. In November 2020, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops elected Cepeda as chair of the Committee on Cultural Diversity.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit Official Site

Episcopal succession

21st-century American Roman Catholic titular bishops 1969 births Living people Mexican emigrants to the United States Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit Religious leaders from Michigan {{US-RC-bishop-stub