Pope Leo XIV Appoints Most Reverend Michael Pham as Bishop of San Diego who was a Refugee that Fled at Age 13

Pope Leo XIV Appoints Most Reverend Michael Pham as Bishop of San Diego
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Most Reverend Michael Pham, auxiliary bishop of San Diego and diocesan administrator, as the Bishop of San Diego.
May 22, 2025 - 
WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has appointed Most Reverend Michael Pham, auxiliary bishop of San Diego and diocesan administrator, as the Bishop of San Diego.
The appointment was publicized in Washington, D.C. on May 22, 2025, by Monsignor Većeslav Tumir, chargé d’ affaires, a.i. of the Apostolic Nunciature, in the temporary absence of Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The Diocese of San Diego is comprised of 8,852 square miles in the State of California and has a total population of 3,454,921 of which 1,381,968, are Catholic.
SOURCE: USCCB
###Bishop Pham’s BIOGRAPHY may be found Below:
Key Dates
Birth Date: Jan. 22, 1967
Birth Place: Da Nang, Vietnam
Ordained: June 25, 1999 in the Diocese of San Diego
Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego: June 6, 2023
Consecrated: Sept. 28, 2023
Early Years
Auxiliary Bishop Pham fled Vietnam as a 13-year-old refugee in 1980, accompanied by his older sister and a younger brother, arriving first at a refugee camp in Malaysia, before being sponsored a year later in 1981 by an American family and relocating to Blue Earth, MN. A few months later, another sister came to live with them and in 1983 the remainder of his family – four more siblings and his parents – arrived in Minnesota. His family moved to San Diego in 1985.


Ordination and Service
He graduated from San Diego State University with a bachelor’s and started a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering before transferring to St. Francis Seminary at the University of San Diego. He completed his seminary training at St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park with Systematic Theology Baccalaureate and Master of Divinity degrees. He was ordained a priest of the San Diego Diocese in 1999. In 2009, he completed a Master of Science in Psychology. In 2020, he completed a Licentiate in
Sacred Theology.
Bishop Pham served as associate pastor of St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish; diocesan vocations director; and pastor of Holy Family, St. Therese and Good
Shepherd Parishes.
He also has served on the College of Consultors, Diocesan Finance Council, Presbyteral Council, Personnel Board of Priests, Seminary Board, Priests Retirement Pension, Diaconate Council, Executive Board, Vicar for Ethnic and Intercultural Communities, and Vicar General.
Former Responsibilities
Auxiliary Bishop Pham serves as the diocese’s Vicar for Clergy. On March 17, 2025, the diocese’s College of Consultors elected him to serve as diocesan administrator.

https://sdcatholic.org/auxiliary-bishop-pham/