Early years

Oscar Cantú was born on December 5, 1966, in Houston, Texas, the son of Ramiro and Maria de Jesus Cantú, natives of small towns near Monterrey, Mexico. He is the fifth of eight children.

Cantú attended Holy Name Catholic School and St. Thomas High School in Houston and graduated from the University of Dallas. He received his Master of Divinity and Master of Theological Studies from the University of St. Thomas in Houston. Cantú attended the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome from 1998 to 2002, earning a Licentiate in Sacred Theology and a Doctor of Dogmatic Theology. He is fluent in English, Spanish, Italian, and French.^[1]

Priesthood

Cantú was ordained a priest by Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston on May 21, 1994. Cantú spent his early career as a priest working in Houston area parishes. His first assignment was as curate at St. Christopher Parish. He taught at the University of St. Thomas and at St. Mary’s Seminary, and served as pastor of Holy Name Parish.

Cantú conducted youth retreats in the Christian Family Movement in the archdiocese, and worked with the Engaged Encounter ministry. He was also involved in The Metropolitan Organization (TMO), which addresses fair housing, immigration, and education.

Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Cantú titular bishop of Dardanus and auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of San Antonio in 2008. He was consecrated a bishop on June 2, 2008, by Archbishop José Gómez.^[2] At the time, Cantú was the youngest bishop in the United States.^[3] He chose as his episcopal motto Zelus domus tuae comedit me (Zeal for the Lord's house consumes me).^[4]

Bishop of Las Cruces

On January 10, 2013, Cantú was named the second bishop of the Diocese of Las Cruces. He was installed on February 28, 2013.^[3] At the time, he was the youngest bishop to head a diocese in the United States.^[5]

Cantú visited Japan in 2015 for the ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima.^[6] He was a representative of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) at the state visit of Pope Francis to Mexico in February 2016.^[1]

Coat of Arms as Bishop of Las Cruces

Bishop of San Jose

Pope Francis appointed Cantú as coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of San Jose on July 11, 2018.^[7] He was installed on September 28, 2018.^[8] On May 1, 2019, after the retirement of Bishop Patrick J. McGrath, Cantú automatically became the third bishop of San Jose.

Cantú chaired the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace from 2015 to 2017. In that role, he visited churches in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Asia. These included churches in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo that were under great duress. He twice visited Iraq and Cuba. Cantú visited churches in Gaza, Jerusalem, Israel, and the West Bank, advocating the Catholic Church position on a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. He spoke at the United Nations against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. He called for religious liberty in the Middle East, Indonesia, Malaysia, and India.

In November 2020, the Congregation for Bishops at the Vatican initiated an investigation into Cantu’s handling of allegations of clerical sexual abuse and misconduct when he was bishop of the Diocese of Las Cruces. The investigation is being carried out under the provisions of Vos estis lux mundi, the 2019 law for holding bishops accountable in the handling of sexual abuse cases.^[9]