Ordinariate Audio

Bishop Steven J. Lopes, recently installed as the first Bishop of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, preached during Evening Prayer (Solemn Vespers) at the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco, Calif.

In February 2016, Steven Joseph Lopes was ordained as the first bishop of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.

His appointment, by Pope Francis, followed a decade of service at the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. During that period, he also served as an Instructor of Homiletics at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

Bishop Lopes, a California native, holds a Bachelor's Degree in Theology and Religious Studies from the University of San Francisco (1997). He earned a Pontifical Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome (2005).

His ordination to the episcopacy took place at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, Texas, on Feb. 2, 2016 (Candlemas).

In his brief address, Bishop Lopes explains why he chose "Magna Opera Domini" ("Great are the works of the Lord") as his episcopal motto.

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A related Catholic News Service report is at https://www.ncronline.org/new-bishop-ordained-houston-based-ordinariate-former-anglicans

Steven J. Lopes, selected by Pope Benedict XVI to the first bishop of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, is interviewed on Sacred Heart Radio's Son Rise Morning Show.

In November 2015, Pope Francis named Msgr. Steven J. Lopes to serve as the first bishop of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter.

A news conference announcing the appointment took place at the Ordinariate's Chancery in Houston, Texas.

After initial remarks, Bishop-elect Lopes and Monsignor Jeffrey Steenson, a former bishop of The Episcopal Church who served as the Ordinariate's initial Ordinary, took questions from reporters.

Related news release: www.ordinariate.net/press-release

In early 2013, then-Monsignor Steven J. Lopes spoke at a symposium on "The Mission of the Ordinariate," held at St. Mary's Seminary in Houston, Texas.

At the time, he was an official for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, serving as the Secretary of the Anglicanae Traditiones Interdicasterial Commission.