CLEVELAND — Pope Francis has named Most Reverend Nelson J. Perez as the 14th Bishop and the 10th Archbishop of Philadelphia.
He was born in Miami, Florida. He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from Montclair State University in 1983 before teaching at Colegio la Piedad, a Catholic elementary school in Puerto Rico.
I am deeply grateful to the @Pontifex for appointing me as the next archbishop of @ArchPhilly. It is with great joy tinged with a sense of sadness that I accept the appointment - joy that I will be returning to serve @ArchPhilly, sadness in that I will be leaving @DioceseofCLE.
— Bishop Nelson Perez (@BishopNPerez) January 23, 2020
After working in Puerto Rico, Bishop-designate Perez went on to enter Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, where he earned Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Theology degrees.
He was ordained as a priest for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1989. In 1998, Bishop-designate Perez was named a chaplain to His Holiness by Pope John Paul II and Prelate of Honor in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI.
In 2012, he was named Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre and received Episcopal Ordination on July 25, 2012.
In July 2017, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Perez to serve as the 11th Bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland.
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