Stephen Blaire

His Excellency, The Most Reverend
Stephen Edward Blaire
Bishop Emeritus of Stockton
Bishop Stephen E. Blaire
Archdiocese San Francisco
Diocese Stockton
Appointed January 18, 1999
Installed March 16, 1999
Term ended January 23, 2018
Predecessor Donald Montrose
Successor Myron Joseph Cotta
Orders
Ordination April 29, 1967
by James Francis McIntyre
Consecration May 31, 1990
by Roger Mahony, John Ward, and George Patrick Ziemann
Personal details
Born (1941-12-22) December 22, 1941
Los Angeles, California
Previous post Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles
Motto ALIVE FOR GOD IN CHRIST JESUS
Coat of arms
Styles of
Stephen Edward Blaire
Reference style
Spoken style Your Excellency
Religious style Bishop

Stephen Edward Blaire (born December 22, 1941) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was the fifth Bishop of Stockton from March 16, 1999 until January 23, 2018.

Biography

Stephen Blaire was born in Los Angeles, California, as the twelfth of fourteen children. He attended local Catholic schools in the San Fernando Valley, and graduated from Our Lady Queen of Angels Seminary (high school) in 1959. Blaire then entered St. John's Seminary College in Camarillo. He was ordained to the priesthood by James Cardinal McIntyre on April 29, 1967, and then served as associate pastor of St. Luke's Church in Temple City until 1972.

From 1972 to 1986, Blaire worked in Catholic secondary education, initially as a teacher and administrator at Bishop Alemany High School in Mission Hills and later as Vice Principal at Bishop Amat High School in La Puente. He was Principal at Bishop Alemany from 1977 to 1986. He then became curial moderator and chancellor of Los Angeles Archdiocese.

On February 17, 1990, Blaire was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles and titular bishop of Lamzella by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration the following May 31 from Archbishop Roger Mahony, with Bishops John Ward and George Ziemann serving as co-consecrators. Blaire was made vicar general of Los Angeles in 1990 and assigned to Our Lady of the Angels Pastoral Region in 1995.

He was named the fifth Bishop of Stockton on January 18, 1999, and was installed on March 16 in the Cathedral of the Annunciation.

Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Blaire is the Chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, having formerly chaired the Pastoral Practices Committee and been a member of the Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs. Within the California Catholic Conference he is the Chair of the Legislation and Public Policy Committee, as well as a member of the Religious Liberty Committee. He also serves on the Ad Hoc Committee on Ecumenical affairs.[1]

Blaire has been an advocate for life issues and the justice due to workers. Recent letters have praised the end of the death penalty in Maryland,[2] supported common sense legislation to curb gun violence, and reminded legislators of the need for budget decisions to be addressed based on three criteria: 1.Whether it protects or threatens human life and dignity. 2.How it affects “the least of these” (Matthew 25): The needs of those who are hungry and homeless, without work or in poverty should come first.The shared responsibility between Government and other institutions to promote the common good of all, especially ordinary workers and families who struggle to live in dignity in difficult economic times.[3]

In June 2012, Bishop Blaire, as Chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, announced that organization's proposal to draft a message entitled Catholic Reflections on Work, Poverty and a Broken Economy.[4]

In 2001, Blaire learned of allegations that Oscar Pelaez, a priest of the Stockton diocese, had molested a 14-year-old boy at Sacred Heart Church in Turlock in 1997. Blaire immediately suspended Pelaez and sent him to a medical facility on the East Coast. He did not report the incident to civil authorities. Blaire indicated that, because the person alleging the abuse was an adult and declined to report it, responsibility for reporting it did not rest with the diocese. Blaire said his critics "made an issue about not reporting. We had no legal obligation to report."[5]

In November 2007 Blaire was defeated in his bid to win the chairmanship of the U.S. bishops' Committee for the Protection of Children and Young People because he had opposed justice for victims of childhood sexual abuse and he did not report an incident of sexual abuse by a priest under his authority to the police.[5]

In May, 2013, the University of San Francisco awarded Blaire an honorary degree and he was the commencement speaker at the graduation ceremony for the Graduate Students in the College of Arts and Sciences.[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-06-30. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
  2. ↑ "Bishop Blaire Welcomes Repeal Of Death Penalty In Maryland". usccb.org.
  3. ↑ http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/federal-budget/upload/2013-04-22-letter-to-House-of-Represenatatives-on-President-Obama-s-fy14-budget.pdf
  4. ↑ "Bishops Vote To Draft Message On 'Work, Poverty And A Broken Economy'". usccb.org.
  5. 1 2 "Did His Past Come Back to Haunt Him?". California Catholic Daily. November 28, 2007. Retrieved February 5, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-06-26. Retrieved 2013-05-03.

Episcopal succession

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Donald Montrose		 Bishop of Stockton
1999-2018		 Succeeded by
Myron Joseph Cotta
Preceded by
-		 Auxiliary Bishop of Los Angeles
1990-1999		 Succeeded by
-
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