At their November Plenary Meeting in Baltimore, the U.S. bishops chose as their new president Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, as well as their new vice president, Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville.
Since Bishop Flores has been a member of our Board of Governors since 2010, and because the USCCB’s vice president is often elected as the next president in three years’ time, we felt it incumbent upon us to introduce you to a great leader whom you may not know.
Bishop Daniel Flores is not only an intellectual powerhouse and magnificent speaker, but a man whose pastoral leadership is grounded in his experience with and advocacy for the poor.
Since 2010, Bishop Flores has been the shepherd of the most densely Catholic diocese with more than 1.2 million Catholics, which is 85% of the total population. Brownsville also happens to be one of the poorest regions in the United States, according to U.S. Census data. The diocese covers four counties at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Bishop Flores views this not as a challenge, but rather as an opportunity for the Catholic Church to do some of her best work. He shares Pope Leo XIV’s vision that the Church needs to be with the poor.
After Pope Leo released his first exhortation in October 2025, Bishop Flores said,
“If you haven’t read [Pope Leo’s] document on the special love for the poor, which just came out last week, you really should. It’s very profound, very spiritual, and it’s very centered on the vision of Christ. And what you find there is this sense that this is where the Church needs to be, because this is where Christ is.”
He added,
And there should be no greater preoccupation for a Catholic, for a Christian, than to be where [Christ] is.”
The poor deserve the best
Catholic Extension Society has worked closely with Bishop Flores ever since he came to the Diocese of Brownsville, following his stint as an auxiliary bishop in Detroit. Our partnership with him has focused on expanding the Church’s presence in the poorest communities that can least afford it—where the Church’s presence is most needed.
“If we as a people who have received the gift of faith want to be serious about this, and it’s not just something we just say, then we have to go look for [Jesus],” he said. “This is kind of indispensable to a Christian life. You have to go look for where Jesus is, and he’s not very far away at all.”
This commitment to creating lovingly built houses of worship and places of community for the poor follows Bishop Flores’ assertion that the poor deserve beautiful things.
All across the diocese one can find evidence of his commitment to the poor.
This includes the recent construction of a center called Plaza Amistad in a very poor community in Texas.
At Plaza Amistad’s dedication, Bishop Flores spoke about how the poor should be able to celebrate the beauty of life:
Bishop Flores has also championed ministries that serve migrants, such as La Posada Providencia, an emergency shelter for refugees fleeing persecution and violence from around the world.
Bishop Flores has long advocated for humane immigration reform. In response to this desperate need, he has worked with frontline Catholic leaders such as Sister Norma Pimentel, MJ, who leads his diocese’s Catholic Charities. Together, with support from Catholic Extension Society, they have built secure shelters on both sides of the border for asylum seekers.
In the video below, Bishop Flores reflects on the responsibility and opportunity of the Church to see the suffering, and reach out to help:
Bishop Flores knows that the Church is more than a social service agency, which is why he also is dedicated to building churches among the poor, where their spiritual needs can be met. This includes San Juan Diego Church, built in the poor, rural community of Citrus City, Texas:
A listening Church
In more recent years, Bishop Flores has taken his years of listening to the people to a more global stage. He has been heavily involved in the Synod on Synodality; Pope Francis appointed him as one of nine “presidential delegates” at the synod sessions in Rome in 2023 and 2024. He was also appointed to a council that will be instrumental in implementing the results of the synod in the coming years.
He will be equally dedicated to listening as the new vice president of the USCCB. But above all, he will make sure that the voices of the marginalized and poor are at the forefront of the minds of the bishops.
Catholic Extension Society works in solidarity with people to build up vibrant and transformative Catholic faith communities among the poor in the poorest regions of America. Donate to support our mission today.
