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To Be a Good Shepherd
It is not very common for a religious priest to be named bishop or auxiliary bishop (assistant) of a Catholic diocese. Bishops, who are always chosen by the Pope, are normally selected from among the diocesan rather than the religious priests to serve as pastoral leader of the diocese. The Augustinian Recollects in the United States, although a small religious community, have been blessed to have two of our members elevated to the episcopacy (office of bishop) in the last twenty-five years. The first of these Augustinian Recollect religious who became a bishop was the Most Rev. Alphonse Gallegos, OAR, whose outstanding life and career are told elsewhere on this site. He was consecrated Auxiliary Bishop of Sacramento, California in 1981, dying tragically in an auto accident in 1991. He will be remembered for all time by a plaza dedicated to his memory next to the Cathedral in Sacramento, but most especially in the hearts and minds of the many people whom he served, and who remember him as truly a Good Shepherd. Most Rev. David Arias, OAR, was named Auxiliary Bishop of Newark, New Jersey in 1983, and officially announced his retirement in 2004. Bishop David was born in Leon, Spain, of a family that produced two other children for the religious life — a brother, José Antonio, also an Augustinian Recollect priest, and a sister, Consuelo, who is an Augustinian Recollect sister. The spirit of St. Augustine certainly runs deeply in this devote family! Bishop (then Father) David was ordained a priest at the Eucharistic Congress held in Barcelona, Spain, in 1952 along with 840 other candidates. It was the largest such ordination in the history of the Catholic Church. After his ordination, Fr. David worked in various ministries, but he is most well known for his apostolate with the Spanish-speaking of the Archdiocese of New York. He is especially associated with the Cursillo de Cristiandad, an intense program of reviewing the fundamentals of the faith, and with the Encuentro Matrimonial, a program for the strengthening of the marriage bonds between husband and wife. Father David's vision of the Church and its relation to the Hispanic community was well summed up by a statement made when he was first appointed bishop: My hopes have been to see our one Catholic Church of many races, nations, and tongues in this area [Newark] to grow in faith, love, and unity ... to see my Hispanic brothers and sisters progress in the life of the Gospel in ever greater participation with all others who make up the Catholic Church here. Bishop David has not ceased to be a member of the Augustinian Recollect family since his appointment as bishop, although his duties have kept him very busy. He has always made time to visit his Recollect brothers for the principal holidays of the year (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc.) and to preside at our liturgies of ordination to the diaconate and priesthood as well as professions of our Secular Augustinian Recollects. Bishop David has said that although he is retired as bishop he will continue to be available to the Church and to the Augustinian Recollects whenever he is needed. We thank our bishop and our brother with gratitude for the example of his service to the Church and of his very special friendship with our religious community.
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