The news that he had been elected as the next bishop of Los Angeles came through a whisper.
“Give me five minutes,” the Rev. Dr. Antonio Gallardo told the judge of elections when he was asked if he’d like to speak to the convention.
Instead, the rector of St. Luke’s Church in Long Beach, California, observed a minute of silence with his three electoral-process shepherds. “It was just to calm our spirits down and be present in the moment,” Gallardo told The Living Church. Then the four of them prayed. “I remember that they prayed, thanking God for the moment and asking God to grant me whatever I needed to do the job.”
Gallardo was elected during the diocesan convention in Riverside, California, receiving 134 clergy votes and 187 lay votes on the eighth ballot. A Venezuelan American, he will be the first Latino to lead the diocese based in the United States’ most Latino city, succeeding the Rt. Rev. John Taylor when he retires in 2026.
“On one side there is a blessing, there is a level of excitement,” he told TLC. “Then there is an increasing level of commitment about making sure that, you know, we live up to expectations that God has in store for us.”
Gallardo was ordained a priest in 2019. Before that, and while in seminary, he served as a lay pastor for the Latino-Hispanic community of All Saints Church in Pasadena. At All Saints, he “created and promoted efforts aimed to bridge the Latino and Anglo traditions, resulting in increased bilingual and multicultural congregation-wide activities,” according to a resumé he submitted to the search committee.
Gallardo wrote: “My vision is to cultivate a diocese where Christ is at the center, where we strive to love and live like Jesus, where lay and clergy leaders are equipped and empowered to serve in their unique contexts.”
Gallardo—St. Luke’s first rector of color—has been described by a lay leader as someone who “combines efficiency with grace.” According to Taylor, the parish is famous for its outreach to migrants and unhoused neighbors, a ministry that’s a “perfect match for [Gallardo’s] prophetic heart.”
Reflecting on Gallardo’s early ministry at the Long Beach parish two years ago, Taylor wrote: “In the years ahead, look for Antonio to leaven his priesthood with his business and organizational savvy, capitalizing on St. Luke’s leadership in activism and outreach for the people of Long Beach.”
An immigrant at heart who has called America home for the past 32 years, Gallardo is aware of the challenges he’s about to face—including the fears of Latino and immigrant parishioners in the current sociopolitical climate.
During immigration raids in Los Angeles during the summer, 14 parishioners of the diocese were detained, sparking large protests. A diocesan-wide ministry for immigration justice called Sacred Resistance described the detentions as unjust and a source of fear and terror for working-class immigrant families.
The future bishop has been part of the ministry since January. Their work includes praying for immigrants, participating in protests, and helping those who have lost their jobs pay rent. They are “serving as gatekeepers and protecting people at the congregations,” Gallardo said, while also working with elected officials to change legislation.
Describing the role of the church and his message to those gripped by fear because of current federal policies, Gallardo offered words of encouragement—filled with resilience and consistent with Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe’s broader call to the Episcopal Church.
“The church for sure is moving away from being what used to be called the church of the state to being an element of resistance,” he said. “As followers of Jesus Christ, we’re called to call out the cruelty that this government is inflicting upon immigrants and other populations. Also, we are called to bring hope to people. We are a church of hope and the resurrection—and we hope to be for people who are hurting in different ways.”
He said such work includes “resisting, promoting legislation, helping them directly … the church is called to be out there with those who are hurting.”
His foremost priority as bishop—the ultimate gauge that he has done a good job—is to “help everybody develop a closer, deeper relationship with Jesus Christ,” he said. “I believe that having that very deep, close relationship with Jesus will help us get a sense about what we need to do and also get the strength and the course that we need to get the job done.”
His forthcoming role involves leading about 40,000 Episcopalians in 133 congregations and mission centers. According to The Episcopal News, Los Angeles is historically one of the five most populous and culturally diverse of the church’s 106 dioceses.
In leading Los Angeles, Gallardo brings decades of experience in the nonprofit and business worlds. Taylor depicted Gallardo’s path to ministry as one in which “the Holy Spirit took her time,” as the Episcopal priest pursued and completed three master’s degrees and a doctorate in business and economics. In 1993, after winning an award sponsored by Harvard University, Gallardo came to the United States.
While pursuing his second master’s degree at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, he began working on a project that helped low-income individuals secure stable jobs in the manufacturing sector. It was his first exposure to nonprofit work, having come from the corporate world in Venezuela.
“I realized that under the same roof I could use all my business skills along with my desire to help people. So since then I never looked back to corporate jobs and then, you know, I connected one opportunity with the other,” he said—including the opportunity to serve the community and the church as an ordained priest.
Gallardo is a trustee and an alumnus of Episcopal Divinity School. Pending consents, he will be consecrated as Bishop of Los Angeles on July 11, 2026.
Caleb Maglaya Galaraga is The Living Church’s Episcopal Church reporter. His work has also appeared in Christianity Today, Broadview Magazine, and Presbyterian Outlook, among other publications.
