Eusebius J. Beltran

Eusebius Joseph Beltran (August 31, 1934 – September 12, 2025) was an American Catholic prelate who served as archbishop of Oklahoma City in Oklahoma from 1993 until 2010. He previously served as bishop of Tulsa in Oklahoma from 1978 to 1992. Beltran participated in the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965 during the American civil rights movement.

Biography Early life Eusebius Beltran was born on August 31, 1934, in Ashley, Pennsylvania, to Joseph and Helen (née Kozlowski) Beltran. His father was a Spanish immigrant and coal miner, who later died of black lung disease. The fifth of eight children, Beltran had two siblings who entered the religious life as well; one brother also became a priest and one sister became a nun, taking the religious name Sister Sponsa and working as a missionary in Liberia. Eusebius Beltran was raised in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, and attended Marymount School. He took the name Joseph as his confirmation name.

After Beltran's father contracted black lung disease from working in the mines, he moved the family to Georgia in search of different employment. Aspiring to become a missionary, Eusebius Beltran became a seminarian for the Diocese of Savannah following his graduation from high school. Beltran returned to Pennsylvania for eight years, studying at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia.

In 2009, Beltran expressed his opposition to President Barack Obama giving the commencement speech at and receiving an honorary degree from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana because Obama "approved of abortion and other atrocities against human life."

Retirement and death Upon reaching his 75th birthday in 2009, Beltran submitted to the Vatican a letter of resignation as archbishop of Oklahoma City, as required by Catholic canon law. His request was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI on December 16, 2010, during a press conference at which his successor, Bishop Paul Stagg Coakley of the Diocese of Salina, Kansas, was introduced.

Beltran died in Oklahoma City on September 12, 2025, 12 days after his 91st birthday.