Biography of Auxiliary Bishop Rutilio del Riego

Auxiliary Bishop Rutilio del Riego Bishop Rutilio Juan del Riego Jánez was born on September 21, 1940 in Valdesandinas (León) Spain. His parents were Aquilino del Riego Cabero and Francisca Jánez Antón (both deceased). He has two brothers and one sister.

Bishop del Riego became a member of the Fraternity of Diocesan Laborer Priests in 1961. He studied Theology at Pontifical University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain and at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was ordained a priest by Bishop McDonnel on June 5, 1965 at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C. Bishop del Riego was granted a License in Sacred Theology and a M.A., by the Catholic University of America.

As a priest, he served as instructor at St. Vincent College, Latrobe, PA; Director of the Spanish Catholic Center, Washington, D.C.; Associate Director of SOL Vocational Institute; Vocations Director at the Mexican American Cultural Center (M.A.C.C.); Vocations Director at the Northeast Catholic Pastoral Center, New York, N.Y.; Pastor at Santa Lucia Parish and San Antonio de Padua Parish both in the Diocese of El Paso, Texas; Director of the D.L.P. House of Formation in Washington, D.C. He has also served as Delegate for the United States for the Diocesan Laborer Priests.

In the Diocese of San Bernardino, he has served as Parochial Vicar and Pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Riverside where he worked with a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural community that includes Hispanics, Vietnamese and Tongan Catholics. He has also served as Vicar Forane for the Riverside Vicariate and as a member of the Presbyteral Council.

Some of his publications include: An article about leadership in pastoral ministry in Hispanic Communities in Review for Religious, an article on the Formation of Hispanic Seminarians in Seminarios, Madrid, Spain; Identification Survey: Hispanic Priests in the United States, Northeast Catholic Pastoral Center for Hispanics, New York, N.Y., 1981; “La Promoción Vocacional y la Formación de Seminaristas Hispanos” in Hispanics in New York: Religious, Cultural and Social Experiences (A Study of Hispanics in the Archdiocese of New York), Office of Pastoral Research, Archdiocese of New York, New York, N.Y., 1981.

On July 26, 2005, Bishop del Riego was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to the College of Bishops as Titular Bishop of Daimlaig and the Third Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of San Bernardino.