Joseph A. Pepe

Joseph Anthony Pepe (born June 18, 1942) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the second bishop of the Diocese of Las Vegas in Nevada from 2001 to 2018.

Biography

Early life Joseph Pepe was born on June 18, 1942, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one of the two children of Francis and Elvira (née Fazio) Pepe.

Priesthood On May 16, 1970, Pepe was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia by Cardinal John Krol at Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in Philadelphia.

Pepe then served as an assistant pastor at Our Lady of Loreta Parish in Philadelphia while also teaching at Cardinal O'Hara High School in Springfield, Pennsylvania. In 1976, he obtained his Doctor of Canon Law degree from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He was also named defender of the bond for the Metropolitan Tribunal that same year, and prosynodal judge in 1977.

On October 18, 2003, Pepe dedicated the Our Lady of LaVang Vietnamese Catholic Community in Las Vegas as a shrine. In 2004, he opened a diocese human resources department along with an Office of Hispanic Ministry, an Office of Liturgy and Worship and an Office of Archives. On September 27, 2007, Pepe dedicated Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas.

Pepe served on the boards of trustees of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., the International Dominican Foundation, the Vatican Library in Rome and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network,

On February 28, 2018, Pope Francis accepted Pepe's letter of resignation as bishop of the Diocese of Las Vegas after he reached the mandatory retirement age of 75.