Victor Manuel Rivera

Victor Manuel Rivera (1916 – December 24, 2005) was a Puerto Rican Episcopalian priest and bishop. He served from 1968 to 1989 as the third bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin.

Education and early career

Rivera was born in Penuelas, Puerto Rico, where his father and four uncles were Episcopal priests. In 1944, he graduated from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California, and was ordained to the priesthood. From 1943 to 1944 he was vicar of Grace Church in Martinez, California, and from 1945 to 1968, he was rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Visalia, California. He also held diocesan offices in the Diocese of San Joaquin.

Episcopacy

In 1968, Rivera was elected third bishop of the Diocese of San Joaquin.

Later life

Rivera is reported to have changed his mind on women's ordination after his retirement as bishop, as he participated with approval in the consecration of Nedi Rivera as bishop suffragan in the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia.

Rivera's wife, Barbara, died in April 2005, and he died eight months later on December 23 in Orinda, California.