Retired Auxiliary Bishop Rene A. Valero of Brooklyn

Posted

Retired Auxiliary Bishop Rene A. Valero of Brooklyn, the diocese’s first bishop of Hispanic heritage, died March 10 at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center. He was 88.

Retired since 2005, he was living at the Bishop Mugavero Residence in Douglaston, Queens, before his death.

Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio said he joined with the faithful through the diocese “in praying for and remembering” Bishop Valero, who served in active ministry for nearly 50 years, including 25 years as auxiliary bishop.

Upon his elevation to auxiliary bishop in 1980 by Pope John Paul II, Bishop Valero made history in becoming the first Hispanic to serve in such a role within the Brooklyn Diocese.

“At many levels, in his service as priest and pastor, through his leadership with the Catholic Migration Office and the Office of Aging for Catholic Charities, and as auxiliary bishop, it is certain that Bishop Valero’s legacy will live on in Brooklyn and Queens for many years,” Bishop DiMarzio said in a statement.

The Funeral Mass for Bishop Valero was offered March 20 at Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston. Burial was in the Bishops’ Crypt there.

The youngest of three sons of Venezuelan parents, he was born in Harlem. He attended St. Joseph’s School there and Sacred Heart Mission House in Girard, Pa., before beginning seminary training at Cathedral College in Brooklyn.

He completed his preparation for the priesthood at Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, and was ordained in 1956 at Brooklyn’s St. James Cathedral.

He served at two parishes in Brooklyn before he began studies in social work at Fordham University School of Social Service, earning a master’s degree in 1962. For the next 12 years he served at Catholic Charities, first at the Family Service Office and then as Kings County director before becoming the first director for the Office for the Aging.

From 1974 until 1980, he was coordinator of the diocesan Spanish Apostolate, during which time he also served as chairman of the board for the Northeast Hispanic Pastoral Center. In 1979, he was named pastor of Blessed Sacrament parish in Jackson Heights, Queens.

On Oct. 7, 1980, St. John Paul II appointed him—along with Msgr. Anthony J. Bevilacqua and Father Joseph M. Sullivan—as auxiliary bishops of Brooklyn. Their episcopal ordination took place Nov. 24, 1980, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Brooklyn.

Bishop Valero remained as pastor of Blessed Sacrament, then in 1983 he was appointed to direct the Catholic Migration and Refugee Office, a position he held until 1991.

Shortly after Bishop Thomas V. Daily became Brooklyn’s sixth bishop in 1990, he established the diocesan Committee on Racial Harmony and appointed Bishop Valero to chair it. He also was vicar for racial concerns.

Reflecting on the diocese’s evolving ethnic and racial mix, Bishop Valero said: “Only a welcoming attitude and an understanding of the people who will move into our neighborhoods will make for an easy and peaceful absorption of newcomers.”

He was vicar for the elderly and regional bishop for the 56 parishes of the diocese’s Queens North Vicariate.

He served on several U.S. bishops’ committees, including as chairman of the Committee for the Church in Latin America.—CNS

Retired Auxiliary Bishop Rene A. Valero of Brooklyn