Pope Francis has named Msgr. Robert Coerver as bishop of the Diocese of Lubbock, Texas, and accepted the resignation of Bishop Plácido Rodríguez. Msgr. Coerver serves as a priest in the Diocese of Dallas.
The appointment and resignation were publicized Tuesday, Sept. 27, in Washington by Msgr. Walter Erbì, Chargé d’ Affaires, at the Apostolic Nunciature to the United States.
A native of Dallas, Robert Coerver, 62, was born June 6, 1954. He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Dallas. He was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Dallas in 1980.
Msgr. Coerver pursued post-graduate studies at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), in Rome. Bishop-elect Coerver also holds a licentiate in spiritual theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and a master’s degree in counseling and guidance from Texas A & M University.
Assignments after ordination included: parochial vicar, St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish, Dallas, 1981-1982; parochial vicar, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Plano, 1982-1985; director of Spiritual Formation, Holy Trinity Seminary, 1985-1996; diocesan director, Spiritual Development of Priests, Dallas, 1996; diocesan director, Committee for Ongoing Formation of Priests, Dallas 1996-2004; pastor, Our Lady of the Lake Parish, Rockwall, 2005-2010; and pastor of St. Rita Parish, Dallas, 2010 to present.
In 2004, Pope John Paul II named him a prelate of honor with the title of monsignor.
Bishop-elect Coerver also has served the Diocese of Dallas in other assigned appointments including: vicar forane from 2007-2013, member, College of Consultors, 2007-present and member of the Presbyteral Council, Diocese of Dallas, 2008 to present.
Bishop Rodriguez with Bishop Michael Mulvey.
Bishop Rodríguez, who has headed the Diocese of Lubbock since 1994, is 75. Bishop Rodríguez was born in Guanajuato, Mexico in 1940. He was ordained a priest on May 23, 1968, and was appointed auxiliary bishop of Chicago in 1983. On April 5, 1994, he was appointed bishop of Lubbock and was installed on June 1, 1994.
The Diocese of Lubbock comprises 23,382 square miles in the state of Texas. It has a population of 494,458 people of whom 136,894, or 28 percent, are Catholic.