L.A. Auxiliary Bishop Named as Leader of Stockton Diocese
Donald W. Montrose, an auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the vicar of Ventura County since 1983, has been named by Pope John Paul II as the new bishop of Stockton, succeeding Archbishop Roger M. Mahony, who took charge of the Los Angeles archdiocese in September.
Montrose, 62, a longtime California resident and a priest for 36 years, said at a press conference Thursday that he will assume leadership Feb. 20 over the sprawling, six-county Central California diocese, containing 135,000 Catholics in a 10,000 square-mile area, including two-thirds of Yosemite National Park.
After ordination in the Los Angeles diocese, Montrose did graduate work in Spanish and earned a master of science in education degree at Immaculate Heart College. He was pastor of Resurrection parish in Los Angeles from 1973 until he was named auxiliary bishop, and he served as superintendent of Catholic high schools in Los Angeles from 1964 to 1977. He has also served as president-rector of St. John’s Seminary College in Camarillo since August, 1984.
Montrose has been active in the charismatic renewal movement among Spanish-speaking Catholics for the last nine years.
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