As the new coadjutor bishop of San Diego, Bishop Cirilo Flores will be a step closer to making history.

As coadjutor bishop, Bishop Flores is automatically in line to succeed Bishop Robert Brom upon his retirement in 2013, making him the fifth bishop of San Diego and the first diocesan bishop of Mexican origin in the Diocese of San Diego. (In the past Bishop Gilbert Chavez, who is also of Mexican origin, was auxiliary bishop.)

Flores was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on Jan. 4, and he will be formally received in the Diocese of San Diego with a Mass on Monday, Feb. 13.

“I am here to listen and learn,” Bishop Flores was quoted in The Southern Cross, the diocese’s official newspaper. “Bishop Brom is the bishop of San Diego until the day he retires. I have much to learn from him regarding the gifts and challenges, resources and stewardship of this diocese.”

Bishop Flores said that he feels very welcomed in San Diego.

“I thank our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, for this wonderful and challenging assignment and I extend my gratitude to Bishop Robert Brom, who has been most supportive and welcoming,” Bishop Flores said in a prepared statement by the Diocese of Orange. “I look forward to working with Bishop Brom and assisting him during this time of transition, which will be a time for me to learn about the local church of San Diego and Imperial counties.”

Bishop Flores, 63, was born June 20, 1948, in Corona, when Corona was still a part of the Diocese of San Diego, and he spent the first 30 years of his life in this diocese. His father was from the northern Mexican state of Sinaloa with his family. The elder Flores lived in Arizona, before becoming a barber in Corona, where the bishop was born.

Bishop Flores attended Corona Unified School District, St. Edward School and Notre Dame High School in Riverside, California.

He received a bachelor’s degree from Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, a doctorate from Stanford University Law School, Palo Alto, California, and a master of divinity from St. John Seminary in Camarillo, California.

He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Orange on June 8, 1991. After ordination, he served as parochial vicar at St. Barbara Parish in Santa Ana, St. Joachim Parish in Costa Mesa, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Newport Beach, and Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in La Habra.

He served as pastor of St. Anne Parish in Santa Ana and was a member of the diocesan finance council and the editorial board of the diocesan newspaper.

On January 5, 2009, Pope Benedict appointed him auxiliary bishop of Orange. He was ordained a bishop on March 19, 2009.

Although Bishop Flores said he’s looking forward to serving the people of San Diego, he also said he would miss the Orange Diocese, where he had spent “my entire priesthood. I was formed as a priest by the parishioners I was privileged to serve for 18 years; I learned how to serve by the example of the priests I have known in Orange,” he said.