Auxiliary Bishop René Valero, Trailblazer in the Diocese of Brooklyn

Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio remembered René Valero as a trailblazer who served as the first Hispanic auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Brooklyn. Valero, who died in 2019, focused his ministry on immigrant communities and older adults.

According to DiMarzio, Valero held significant responsibility for Hispanic ministry and served as a symbolic figure for the large Hispanic population within the diocese. Valero worked alongside DiMarzio for approximately two years, from 2003 until his retirement in 2005.

Born in 1930 to Venezuelan immigrants, Valero studied at Cathedral College in Brooklyn and Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington before his ordination in 1956. He served at St. Michael-St. Edward Parish in Fort Greene and St. Agatha Church in Sunset Park. After earning a master's degree in social work from Fordham University in 1962, he worked for the Family Service Office of Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens, eventually becoming its director.