Background
A native of Fremont, California, was born on April 22, 1975, the only child of José de Oliveira Lopes and Barbara Jane Lopes.
A native of Fremont, California, was born on April 22, 1975, the only child of José de Oliveira Lopes and Barbara Jane Lopes.
He was educated at Catholic schools in California: Saint Pius School in Redwood City, Street Edward"s School in Newark, and Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward. Lopes studied at the Saint Ignatius Institute at the University of San Francisco, and also pursued studies at the University of Innsbruck in Austria.
His philosophical studies and preparation for the priesthood took place at Saint Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California, before he was assigned to study theology in Rome. There he obtained a licentiate at the Pontifical Gregorian University while living at the Pontifical North American College. Lopes was ordained to the diaconate on October 5, 2000 during a Mass at Saint Peter"s Basilica, Rome.
He was ordained a priest on June 23, 2001, for the Archdiocese of San Francisco by William Levada.
Lopes then returned to Rome to obtain a doctorate in sacred theology from the Gregorian University. Since 2005, he has served as an official of the Holy See"s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, while also serving as a professor of theology at the Gregorian.
During that time, Lopes served as a personal aide to Cardinal William Levada, who was prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith from 2005 to 2012. On July 10, 2010, he was appointed a Chaplain of His Holiness and therefore made a monsignor.
Starting in 2012, Lopes served as the secretary of the Vatican commission Anglicanae Traditiones, which was formed with the goal of developing a missal that would hybridize Anglican and Roman Rite liturgical elements for the use of the personal ordinariates.
Episcopal ministry
On November 24, 2015, the Holy See announced that Lopes would the first bishop of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter for the Anglican Use. In assuming that responsibility, he succeeded Monsignor Jeffrey North. Steenson, a former Episcopal bishop appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to the position of "ordinary" in 2012. On February 2, 2016, he was consecrated a bishop in Houston and took up his appointment as prelate of the Ordinariate.