Francisco González Valer

One of five children, Francisco González Valer was born in Arcos de Jalón in the province of Soria, Spain. He entered the Seminario Misional de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona in 1951, and took his final vows in the religious congregation of the Sons of the Holy Family in 1960.

He then came to the United States to study theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., from where he also obtained an M.A. in comparative international education in 1967. On May 1, 1964, he was ordained a priest by Bishop John J. Russell in Richmond, Virginia.

González then held pastoral assignments in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, where he served as Advocate and Pro-Synodal Judge at the Marriage Tribunal. He taught and did pastoral work in his native Spain from 1975 to 1976, and was pastor of Our Lady of Peace Church in Greeley, Colorado, from 1982 to 1983.

From 1986 to 1996, González was director of Hispanic, Cursillo, and Charismatic movements in the Archdiocese of Washington. He taught at the Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington (1969-1971), and St. John's School in Frederick (1984-1986). He was the national chaplain for Cursillo (1987-1989), and pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Takoma Park (1996-1997). He was appointed Coordinator of the Hispanic Family Life Office in 1992, and Episcopal Vicar for Hispanic Catholics in 1997. Since 1993, he has written a weekly award-winning column for El Pregonero newspaper.

His congregation elected him on three occasions as a delegate to their General Chapters. He also served as rector of Holy Family Seminary in Silver Spring, Maryland, and as Vice-Provincial Superior for the Sons of the Holy Family in the United States until 2001.

On December 28, 2001, González was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Washington and Titular Bishop of Lamphua by Pope John Paul II, becoming the first member of the Sons of the Holy Family to be so honored. He received his episcopal consecration on February 11, 2002 from Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, with James Cardinal Hickey and Bishop Leonard Olivier, S.V.D., serving as co-consecrators.

He also has a brother and sister who are in religious life in Spain.

• Catholic-Hierarchy.org
• Archdiocese of Washington

• Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington Official Site