Daniel E. Garcia
Daniel Elias Garcia is an American Catholic prelate who has been bishop of Austin since 2025. He was an auxiliary bishop for the diocese from 2015 to 2019 and bishop of Monterey in California from 2019 to 2025.
Biography
Early life and education
Daniel Garcia was born on August 30, 1960, in Cameron, Texas, the first child of Daniel and Sarah Garcia. He graduated from C.H. Yoe High School in Cameron in 1978 and earned an associate degree from Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas, in 1982.Garcia entered Saint Mary's Seminary at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Thomas in 1984 and a Master of Divinity degree in 1988.
Ordination and ministry
Garcia was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Austin at St. Monica Church in Cameron by Bishop John E. McCarthy on May 28, 1988.After his ordination, Garcia fulfilled assignments as associate pastor first at three Austin parishes, St. Catherine of Siena, Cristo Rey, and St. Louis, then at St. Mary Magdalene in Humble, and then again in Austin at St. Vincent de Paul.
Garcia was sent to the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in 1992 to serve as associate pastor at St. Mary Magdalene Parish in Houston. He returned to Austin in 1995 and served as pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Austin for 18 years. In 2007, Garcia was awarded a Master of Arts in Liturgical Studies from Saint John's School of Theology in Collegeville, Minnesota.
On the diocesan level Garcia was a member of the priests personnel board and the college of consultors. He was chair of the presbyteral council and dean of the Austin North Deanery. On March 3, 2014, Bishop Joe S. Vásquez appointed Garcia moderator of the curia.