Michael Pham

Michael Cuong Minh Pham (born January 27, 1967) is a Vietnamese American Catholic prelate serving as Bishop of San Diego since 2025. From 2023 to 2025, he served as an auxiliary bishop of the diocese.

Biography Early life The oldest son in his family, Phạm Minh Cường, was born on January 27, 1967, in Da Nang in what was then South Vietnam. Pham's father, who served in the South Vietnamese military, was considered an "enemy of the state" by the government after the Fall of Saigon, and as a result, his properties were confiscated, and he was put in a re-education camp. He was eventually released and became a fisherman.

At ten years old, Pham was initially inspired to become a priest after seeing a local priest who was very involved with the parishioners and kind to everyone.

Emigration and education

In July 1980, when Pham was 13, he, his older sister, and younger brother fled Vietnam by boat with very little food, water, or personal belongings. Pham and his siblings stayed there for three months before being fast-tracked for admission to the United States because they were minors.

Initially starting high school in Minnesota,

Priesthood On June 25, 1999, Pham was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of San Diego by Bishop Robert Henry Brom at Saint Michael Church in Poway. His first assignment was as parochial vicar at St. Mary, Star of the Sea Parish in Oceanside. He left St. Mary in 2001 to become the diocesan vocation director. In 2004, he was installed as pastor at Holy Family parish in San Diego and served there for the next ten years.

On his coat of arms is a beehive, which represents Saint John Chrysostom, his baptismal patron saint.

Bishop of San Diego On May 22, 2025, Pham was named Bishop of San Diego and was installed as bishop on July 17, 2025. He was Pope Leo XIV's first episcopal appointment for the United States. Furthermore, Pham is the fourth Vietnamese American bishop overall, and the first to head a diocese.

In June 2025, Pham authored a joint letter with his Auxiliary Bishops Ramón Bejarano and Pulido announcing that a group of clergy and faith leaders would block the detaining of immigrants at the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in San Diego on June 20th, World Refugee Day.