Patrick Flores, Nation's First Mexican-American Catholic Bishop, Dead At 87

SAN ANTONIO, TX — Retired Archbishop Patrick Flores, who in 1970 became the nation's first Mexican-American Catholic bishop, has died while in hospice care, an archdiocese spokesman said Monday afternoon.

The spokesman said Flores passed away shortly before 3 p.m. As the San Antonio Express-News reported, the 87-year-old Flores had been moved to hospice care over the weekend after being briefly hospitalized for treatment of pneumonia and congestive heart failure.

The spokesman told local media outlets early Monday that Flores was facing "extremely serious medical issues." He also suffered from dementia and Meniere's disease, which is a vertigo-causing hearing disorder that also results in tinnitus and hearing loss.

Given his condition, the archbishop emeritus hadn't made a public appearance for a prolonged period of time.

Flores' storied career in the priesthood resonated especially powerfully in the Mexican-American community of San Antonio, where he led his flock in one of the nation's most Hispanic cities while addressing them in both English and Spanish. After working as a migrant farm worker as a boy, he distinguished himself as a powerful advocate for Mexican-American civil rights — particularly those of migrant workers. His love of the Mexican culture and heritage would often have him break into song whenever mariachis were near and earning him the nickname of the "mariachi bishop" in the process.

Flores was ordained into the priesthood in 1956 in the coastal Texas city of Galveston before serving as archbishop in San Antonio until 2004.

Despite having reached such lofty posts within the archdiocese, Flores' ministry involved quietly tending to his flock behind the scenes in providing comfort and support. He secured transportation to parents of death-row inmates to allow for visitation, raised funds to defray the cost of utilities and medical bills for needy families and to support the San Antonio Battered Women's Shelter.

In a 1997 land-use lawsuit that progressed to the Supreme Court, Flores represented the congregation of Boerne, Texas, in demanding the right to a city permit in order to expand a church that had been declared an historic property.

Flores spread his ministry worldwide in his many foreign travels, and in 1987 welcomed Pope John Paul II during the late pontiff's North American tour of cities. Flores offered the pope lodging at the archbishop's residence next door to the chancellery during his stay.

As archbishop in June 2000, Flores made national headlines after being held hostage by a distraught man who entered the archdiocese building. An El Salvador man anxious about being deported from the United States held the priest hostage for nine hours before surrendering to authorities. The police chief later praised Flores for his calm demeanor throughout the ordeal, during which he intently listened and calmly advised the man before he was apprehended.

Flores made headlines again during his retirement in 2007 when he went missing after becoming disoriented during a road trip. He was found safe more than 200 miles from San Antonio, spotted pumping gas at a West Texas convenience store at about 3 a.m. a day after having left the archdiocese.

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