Gerald Richard Barnes

Gerald Richard Barnes (born June 22, 1945) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of San Bernardino in California from 1996 to 2020 and as an auxiliary bishop of San Bernardino from 1992 to 1996.

Biography Gerald Barnes was born on June 22, 1945, in Phoenix, Arizona, to George and Aurora Barnes. In 1946, the family moved to the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles. The family opened a grocery store, where he and his siblings worked in their spare time. Barnes attended public schools for his primary education, then graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles. In 1989, he was named by the Vatican as an honorary prelate with the title of monsignor. He also served as rector of Assumption Seminary. He chaired the Committee on Hispanic Affairs from 1996 to 1999.

Under Barnes, the diocese operated three high schools, 23 elementary schools and three pre-schools. In 2001, Barnes inaugurated the annual Bishop's Golf Classic to fund scholarships to families unable to afford a Catholic education for their children. During his tenure, Barnes closed four primary schools in the California communities of Barstow, Banning, Apple Valley and San Bernardino.

In April 2003, the Diocese of San Bernardino filed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Boston. The diocese charged that the archdiocese gave them false information on Reverend Paul R. Shanley, a priest who transferred to the diocese from Boston in 1990. Despite Shanley having a record of sexual abuse of minors in Massachusetts, the archdiocese described him to the diocese as "a priest in good standing. Later in 1990, Shanley was accused of abusing a teenager at a hotel in Palm Springs, California. In July 2003, after speaking to the new archbishop of Boston, Sean O'Malley, Barnes decided to drop the lawsuit.

In 2007, the Government of Mexico presented Barnes with the Ohtli award for his service to Mexican citizens living in the United States.

Retirement On June 22, 2020, his 75th birthday, Barnes submitted his letter of resignation as bishop of San Bernardino to Pope Francis. The pope accepted it on December 28, 2020, at which point Coadjutor Bishop Alberto Rojas succeeded automatically to the office.