Matthew Elshoff

Matthew Gregory Elshoff, O.F.M. Cap. (born September 24, 1955) is an American Catholic prelate who served as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles since 2023. He is a member of the Capuchin Franciscans.

Biography

Early life Matthew Elshoff was born on September 24, 1955, in Cincinnati, Ohio, as the first of five children of Calvin and Irene (née Molnar) Elshoff. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was a child, and he attended St. Bede the Venerable Church and Elementary School in La Cañada, Flintridge. The school was operated by the Sisters of St. Louis, who encouraged Elshoff to consider becoming a priest. Elshoff then attended St. Francis High School in La Cañada Flintridge, California, which was operated by the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin.

Having decided to enter the priesthood, Elshoff joined the Capuchins in 1979. He entered their seminary at the Dominicans' St. Albert the Great Priory in Oakland, California, professing solemn vows on September 22, 1979.

Priesthood Elshoff was ordained a priest by Cardinal Timothy Manning for the Capuchin Order on June 18, 1982, at St. Bede the Venerable Church in La Canada. After his 1982 ordination, the Capuchins assigned Elshoff as vocations director for his Capuchin province. After six year in this position, he spent a sabbatical year in Benito Juarez, Mexico, working as a missionary.

Elshoff received his first pastoral assignment in 2015 when the Capuchins sent him to serve as pastor at Old Mission Santa Inés Parish in Solvang, California. Archbishop José Gómez consecrated him as a bishop on September 26, 2023, at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, with Auxiliary Bishops Gerald Wilkerson and Alejandro Aclan serving as co-consecrators.