For the first time in US history, a clergyman with Vietnamese roots was appointed as a bishop, Aleteia.org reported.
Michael Pham was chosen as bishop of San Diego by the new Pope Leo XIV - the first American pope in history. Pham, 58, has been an auxiliary bishop in the diocese until now. The publication indicates that he fled the Asian country in 1980 as a refugee.
Pham, who is originally from Da Nang, Vietnam, was ordained a priest in the diocese of San Diego in 1999 and was elevated to the rank of bishop in 2023. He is in charge of the diocese’s ethnic programs and has been its chief administrator since March.
The Diocese of San Diego has about 1.3 million Catholics out of a total population of about 3.5 million, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Before being elected pope on May 8, Cardinal Robert Prevost was head of the Vatican’s office of bishops, and in that capacity, part of his duties included reviewing and vetting Pham’s file. He will fill the vacancy left by Pope Francis’ appointment of Cardinal Robert McElroy as archbishop of Washington, D.C., earlier this year.