Alfredo Méndez-Gonzalez

Alfredo José Isaac Cecilio Francisco Méndez-Gonzalez (June 3, 1907 – January 28, 1995) was an American Catholic bishop who served in Puerto Rico and who later became involved with sedevacantists.

Biography

Early life Alfredo Méndez-Gonzalez was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, on June 3, 1907, of mixed Spanish and Puerto Rican ancestry. On June 23, he was baptized as "Alfredo José Isaac Cecilio". He took the name "Francisco" at his confirmation.

As a boy of about nine years old, he was tapped on the head by Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, an elderly nun who came to the Mendez home to thank Mendez's mother for her work in supporting Catholic charities. Méndez said afterward that it was at that moment that he was tapped on the head by Cabrini that he knew he would become a priest. Méndez harbored a great devotion to her for the rest of his life. He performed his theological studies at Holy Cross College of Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He traveled to Rome for the Second Vatican Council, but fell ill with hepatitis upon arrival. He recovered only in time to attend the council's closing days. He is said to have been shocked upon his return and stated: "They're all Protestants!"

On January 21, 1974, at the age of 66, after only 14 years of active service as a diocesan bishop, and returned to California. Numerous diocesan bishops in the United States invited him to assist in their dioceses, but Méndez refused such invitations. Lefebvre thanked Méndez for his help and "courageous intervention to [the] Holy See."

In 1988, in California, Méndez was visited by Paul Baumberger and Joseph Greenwell, two former seminarians of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) who were then associated with the Society of Saint Pius V (SSPV). They asked him to conduct priestly ordinations. Méndez encouraged them to find an active bishop who would ordain them. On April 25, 1990, Méndez asked Bishop Juan Fremiot Torres Oliver to supply a "canonical cover" (in Oliver's expression) for traditionalist priests. In July 1990, Méndez decided that he himself would ordain Baumberger and Greenwell without the necessary authorizations. The ordinations to the diaconate occurred on August 1, 1990, with about four dozen people present, including five priests. The ordinations to the priesthood occurred on September 3.

Méndez was a prominent, avid, and financial supporter of the television program "What Catholics Believe"

Death

In January 1995, the priests of the SSPV brought Méndez to Cincinnati to show him a church property they hoped he would buy for them. During the stay, Méndez became ill, suffered pancreatic tumor, and went into hospital. He died on January 28, 1995, at the age of 87.

At that week, Mendez's consecration of Kelly in 1993 was announced by the SSPV.