Carlos Arthur Sevilla

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His Excellency, The Most Reverend

Carlos Arthur Sevilla, SJ
Bishop Emeritus of Yakima
ArchdioceseSeattle
DioceseYakima
AppointedDecember 31, 1996
Installed1997
Term endedApril 12, 2011
PredecessorFrancis George
SuccessorJoseph J. Tyson
Orders
OrdinationJune 3, 1966
ConsecrationJanuary 25, 1989
by John R. Quinn, Mark Joseph Hurley, and Michael Joseph Kaniecki
Personal details
Born (1935-08-09) August 9, 1935 (age 86)
San Francisco, California
Previous post(s)Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco
MottoTo love and to serve
Styles of
Carlos Arthur Sevilla
Mitre (plain).svg
Reference style
Spoken styleYour Excellency
Religious styleBishop

Carlos Arthur Sevilla SJ (born August 9, 1935) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Bishop of the Diocese of Yakima in Washington State from 1996 to 2011 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco from 1988 to 1996.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Carlos Sevilla was born in San Francisco, California, and entered the Society of Jesus in 1953. He studied at Gonzaga University, where he obtained his Master of Philosophy degree[1]

Priesthood[]

On June 3, 1966, Sevilla was ordained to the priesthood in Rome by Archbishop John Raphael Quinn. He made his solemn profession to the Society of Jesus on April 22, 1974. Sevilla earned his Master of Theology degree from Santa Clara University and attended the Jesuit College Innsbruck in Innsbruck, Austria, and the Catholic Institute of Paris.[1]

Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco[]

On December 6, 1988, Pope John Paul II appointed Sevilla as an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of San Francisco and Titular Bishop of Mina. Sevilla received episcopal consecration on January 25, 1989 from Archbishop John Quinn, with Bishops Mark Hurley and Michael Kaniecki serving as co-consecrators.[1]

Bishop of Yakima[]

On December 31, 1996, John Paul II named Sevilla as the sixth Bishop of Yakima. Sevilla is the second member of a religious order and the first Jesuit to hold that office.[1]

Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Sevilla sat on the Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and the Sub-Committee for Translation of Liturgical Texts into Spanish, as well as co-chairing the West Coast Dialogue of Catholics and Muslims. Sevilla is the former Chairman of the Committee on Religious Life and Ministry and the Sub-Committee for Translation of Liturgical Texts Into Spanish.[2]

On April 1, 2008 Sevilla accepted blame for hiring Juan Gonzalez in 2003 to work as a retreat director for the diocese. Gonzalez was being investigated by police in Marion County, Oregon at that time for viewing child pornography.[3] Sevilla knew about the investigation, but hired Gonzalez anyway. Police later notified Sevilla that charges had been filed against Gonzalez, but there was no follow-up by the diocese.[4]

In May 8, 2008, Sevilla admitted that he failed to notify parishioners in the Diocese of Yakima about Jose Joaquin Estrada Arango, a priest convicted earlier in 2008 of fondling a 14 year old girl in Oregon. Estrada had worked in four parishes in the Diocese of Yakima between 2001 and 2003.[5]

Retirement[]

On May 31, 2011, with the installation of Bishop Joseph J. Tyson as the new bishop of Yakima, Sevilla became Bishop Emeritus.  He spent the next several years in Yakima, helping Tyson and working with local ministries.[1]

In 2014, Sevilla testified in a civil lawsuit against the Diocese of Yakima. The plaintiff claimed to have been sexually assaulted in 1999 at age 17 by seminarian Aaron Ramirez at Resurrection Catholic Church in Zillah, Washington. The suit alleged that the diocese had been negligent in checking Ramirez's background when he applied to enter the priesthood.[6] Ramirez fled to Mexico after the incident, where he became an Anglican priest. Sevilla did not notify the Mexican Anglican archbishop about Ramirez's alleged crimes until 2005.[7]

In July 2016, Sevilla moved into the Jesuit community at Bellarmine Preparatory School in San Jose, California. In July 2021, Sevilla entered Sacred Heart Jesuit Center, a retirement home for Catholic clergy in Los Gatos, California. Sevilla works as a spiritual director, arranges retreats and conferences and helps with weekend Masses in local parishes.[1]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Admin, M. M. J. "Bishop Emeritus Carlos A. Sevilla, S.J." Diocese of Yakima. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  2. ^ "Bishop Carlos Arthur Sevilla, S.J." Catholic-Hierarchy. Retrieved 2018-04-05.
  3. ^ "Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Yakima admits hiring employee under investigation for viewing child porn online". NBC Right Now. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  4. ^ "Bishop says hire was mistake | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  5. ^ Salmon, Jacqueline L. (2008-05-11). "Vatican protecting bishops, activists say". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  6. ^ Herald-Republic, By Donald W. Meyers Yakima. "Former Yakima bishop testifies at sex-abuse trial". Yakima Herald-Republic. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
  7. ^ "Church Punishes Priests but Protects Bishops, Critics Say". 2008-05-10. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-10-20.

External links[]

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Yakima
1997–2011 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
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 Auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco
1989-1996 		Succeeded by
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Retrieved from ""