Bishop who apologized to LGBTQ community to lead California diocese

December 18, 2025

Pope Leo XIV yesterday named Auxiliary Bishop Ramon Bejarano of San Diego as the new bishop of Monterey, California.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1998, the 56-year-old prelate was appointed auxiliary bishop of San Diego in 2020.

Last year, Bishop Bejarano offered an apology to members of the LGBTQ community during a 2024 Mass organized by a San Diego parish’s LGBTQ Ministry. The bishop said that the previous year, he “realized the pain, the sorrow, the stigma and trauma that we have caused to others because we don’t accept them, because we tell them that they do not belong, because we judge them. Jesus will never inflict that kind of pain or trauma to people.”

“I apologize for the pain and distress that I and the Church have caused to many of you,” the prelate continued. “I apologize for the stigmatization and trauma we have caused to others, because we have told them that they are not valued and that they are not worthy of the love of God.”

“The members of the Church many times have not welcomed the homeless, the prisoner, the immigrant, the mentally ill, the LGBTQ, the one who speaks a different language or has a different skin color,” he added. “We fall in the danger of seeing them as ‘they’ and ‘us.’ The Church is a welcoming body for everyone who wants to get closer to Jesus.”

The Diocese of Monterey has 46 parishes and 368,000 Catholics, according to The Official Catholic Directory (2025 edition). Bishop Bejarano’s predecessor in Monterey, Bishop Daniel Garcia, was transferred in July to the Diocese of Austin, Texas.

 

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Further information:

• Resignations and Appointments, 17.12.2025 (Holy See Press Office)
• In San Diego, Bishop Apologizes to LGBTQ+ Community During Pride Mass (New Ways Ministry, 9/9/24)