Bishop Arturo Cepeda | Biography

Born: May 15, 1969 (San Luis Potosí, Mexico)
Ordained Priest: June 1, 1996
Appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit and Titular Bishop of Tagase: April 18, 2011
Ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit: May 5, 2011

Bishop Jose Arturo Cepeda Escobedo, STL, STD, 41, was born in San Luis Potosi, SLP, Mexico, on May 15, 1969, to Jose Cepeda and Maria del Socorro Escobedo. He received his elementary and high school education in Catholic schools in San Luis Potosi under the direction of Hermanas and Hermanos Josefinos.

Bishop Cepeda then completed a year of spiritual formation, followed by philosophy studies at Seminario Arquidiocesano Guadalupano Jo- sefino in San Luis Potosi. After moving with his family to San Antonio, Texas, Bishop Cepeda continued his seminary studies at Our Lady of the Lake University, later earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in religious studies with a minor in psychology from the College Seminary of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Returning to San Antonio’s Assumption Seminary, Bishop Cepeda received a Masters of Divinity degree and was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Patricio Flores on June 1, 1996, at St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in San Antonio, Texas.

After earning a Master of Arts degree in Biblical theology from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, while assigned as parochial vicar of San Antonio’s San Fernando Cathedral, Bishop Cepeda was asked to study at St. Thomas Aquinas “Angeli- cum,” Pontifical University in Rome, where he was awarded a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) and Doctorate in Sacred Theology (STD) degrees, defending his dissertation in Spiritual Theology in 2005.

Upon returning to San Antonio, he has fulfilled teaching and formation duties at Assumption Seminary and Oblate School of Theology, has served as Vocation Director and Faculty Member for the Transitional Ministry Formation Program for the Archdiocese of San Antonio, and has been a member of the Formation Faculty of St. Peter upon the Water: A Center for Spiritual Direction and Formation for the Archdiocese of San Antonio. Bishop Cepeda was made Vice Rector of Assumption Seminary in San Antonio in 2009. In 2010, he was installed as the seminary’s Rector, where he has served until the present time.

On April 18, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him auxiliary bishop of Detroit and titular bishop of Tagase. He was consecrated on May 5, 2011 at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit.