Eduardo Nevares

Eduardo Nevares was born in San Antonio, Texas, to Andres Valdes Nevares and Beatriz Alanis Tamez.[2] The youngest of six children in a Mexican American family, he has one sister and four brothers, all of whom were born in Mexico.[3] The family lived in Chicago, Illinois, before settling in Houston.[2] Nevares received his early education at the parochial school of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Houston.[2] At age 14, he enrolled at La Salette Minor Seminary in Jefferson City, Missouri.[4] The following year, when the seminary was closed, he was transferred to St. Henry Preparatory Seminary in Belleville.[3]

Nevares continued his studies at La Salette Junior College Seminary in Altamont, New York, where he earned an Associate's degree in 1974.[4] He attended the Missionary of Our Lady of LaSalette Philosophy Seminary in Ipswich, Massachusetts, for one year before entering St. Thomas University in Houston, where earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy in 1976.[1] He entered the novitiate of the Missionaries of Our Lady of LaSalette in 1976, professing his first vows in 1977 and his final vows in 1980.[1] He completed his theological studies at Kenrick Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri, where he earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1981.[3]

Nevares was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Bernard J. Ganter on July 18, 1981.[5] His first assignment was as a parochial vicar at St. Patrick's Church in Lufkin, where he remained for seven years.[1] From 1988 to 1991, he served as vocations director for the LaSalette Missionaries.[2] He then resumed his pastoral ministry, serving as a parochial vicar at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Jacksonville (1991) and a Catholic chaplain at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches (1991–93).[1]

From 1993 to 2002, Nevares served as pastor of St. Patrick's Church in Lufkin.[4] During his tenure at St. Patrick's, he oversaw the construction of a new church, which was completed and consecrated in 2001.[2] In addition to his pastoral duties, he served as provincial counselor to the St. Louis province of the LaSalette Missionaries (1994–97).[1] Nevares became co-director of Vocations for Holy Orders and Consecrated Life in the Diocese of Tyler in 2002.[4] In this capacity, he organized and conducted the first Spanish-speaking program for candidates for the permanent diaconate.[3] He also served as diocesan director of charismatic groups.[3]

After twenty-five years as a LaSalette Missionary, Nevares was incardinated into the Diocese of Tyler in 2007.[1] In 2008, he was appointed vice-rector of the College of Liberal Arts at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.[4] As vice-rector, he has assisted with the administration of the priestly formation program, coordinated the formation for college level seminarians, and taught Spanish to the college seminarians.[2][4]

On May 11, 2010, Nevares was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Phoenix, Arizona, and titular Bishop of Natchesium by Pope Benedict XVI,[5] and is the first auxiliary bishop of and the first Hispanic bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix.[3][5] His episcopal motto is: "Serve the Lord with gladness."[3]

Nevares received his episcopal consecration on July 19, 2010 from Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix, at Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Avondale.