Michael Pham
Vietnamese-born American bishop
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Cường Minh Phạm (born January 27, 1967) is a Vietnamese-born American Catholic prelate who has been serving as bishop of San Diego in California since 2025. From 2023 to 2025, he served as an auxiliary bishop of San Diego.
Michael Pham | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of San Diego | |
Pham in 2023 | |
| Native name | Micae Phạm Minh Cường |
| See | San Diego |
| Appointed | May 22, 2025 |
| Installed | July 17, 2025 |
| Predecessor | Robert W. McElroy |
| Previous posts | Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego & Titular Bishop of Cercina (2023–2025) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | June 25, 1999 by Robert Brom |
| Consecration | September 28, 2023 by Robert W. McElroy, Joseph J. Tyson, and John P. Dolan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 27, 1967 |
| Education | San Diego State University Saint Patrick's Seminary |
| Motto | Unitatem in Christus (United in Christ) (Hiệp nhất trong Chúa Kitô) |
| Styles of Michael Phạm | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reference style | |
| Spoken style | Your Excellency |
| Religious style | Bishop |
Biography
Early life
Phạm Minh Cường was born on January 27, 1967, in Da Nang in what was then South Vietnam. In 1980, when Pham was 13, his family fled Vietnam, arriving at Bidong refugee camp in Malaysia.[1][2] The family emigrated to the United States in 1981, settling in Blue Earth, Minnesota. They relocated to San Diego in 1985.[3] Pham graduated from San Diego High School and then entered San Diego State University. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering.[4][3]
While working on his master's degree at San Diego State, Pham decided to enter the priesthood. He attended Saint Patrick's Seminary in Menlo Park, California, where he earned a Systematic Theology Baccalaureate and a Master of Divinity degree.[4][3]
Priesthood
On June 25, 1999, Pham was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of San Diego by Bishop Robert Henry Brom at Saint Michael Church in Poway, California.[5] His first assignment was as parochial vicar at St. Mary, Star of the Sea Parish in Oceanside, California. He left St. Mary in 2001 to become vocation director for the diocese. In 2004, he was installed as pastor at Holy Family parish in San Diego and served there for the next ten years.[4]
The diocese transferred Pham in 2014 to St. Therese Parish in San Diego to serve as pastor there. After two years, he was moved to Good Shepherd Parish in San Diego. In 2017, Bishop Robert McElroy named Pham as episcopal vicar for ethnic and intercultural communities and in 2018 as vicar general. He completed a Licentiate of Sacred Theology at St. Patrick's Seminary in 2020.[4]
Auxiliary Bishop of San Diego
Pope Francis appointed Pham as an auxiliary bishop of San Diego on June 6, 2023.[6][4] On September 28, 2023, Pham was consecrated as a bishop at St. Therese of Carmel Church in San Diego by McElroy, with Bishops Joseph J. Tyson, and John P. Dolan serving as co-consecrators.[5] As auxiliary bishop, Pham served as the vicar for clergy.[3]
On his coat of arms is a beehive, which represents Saint John Chrysostom, his baptismal patron saint.[7]
Bishop of San Diego
On May 22, 2025, Pham was named Bishop of San Diego to succeed Cardinal Robert McElroy and installed as bishop on July 17, 2025.[8][9] He was Pope Leo XIV's first episcopal appointment for the United States. Furthermore, Pham is the fourth Vietnamese-American bishop overall, and the first to head a diocese.[10][11][12]
In June 2025, Pham authored a joint letter with his Auxiliary Bishops Ramón Bejarano and Felipe Pulido announcing that a group of clergy and faith leaders would block the detaining of immigrants at the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in San Diego on June 20th, World Refugee Day.[1] On that day, Pham led a dozen religious leaders who stopped United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and United States Border Patrol (CBP) agents from detaining immigrants.[13][14]
