Pope Benedict XVI has named Msgr. Nelson J. Perez, pastor of St. Agnes parish in West Chester, as an auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island.
Perez, 50, was founding director of the Catholic Institute for Evangelization in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and has been a longtime leader in its outreach to the Hispanic community.
With 1.5 million members, the Diocese of Rockville Centre is about the same size as the Philadelphia archdiocese.
Born in Miami to parents of Cuban ancestry, Perez grew up in West New York, N.J., in the Diocese of Newark, and was ordained a priest in 1989.
