Pope taps Texan bishop Garcia for Monterey, California

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis has named Monsignor Daniel Garcia, currently an auxiliary bishop in Texas, to take over as bishop of Monterey, California.

The Vatican said Tuesday that the 58-year-old Garcia would replace Bishop Richard Garcia, who died earlier this year.

Bishop Daniel Garcia has been an auxiliary bishop of Austin since 2015.

The diocese of Monterey is heavily influenced by the controversial 18th century St. Junipero Serra, who created a mission there as part of a chain of missions up and down California to evangelize Native Americans. Francis canonized Serra during his 2015 visit to the U.S.