WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pope Francis has appointed Msgr. Gregory W. Gordon, vicar general of the Las Vegas Diocese since 2020, to be an auxiliary bishop of the Nevada diocese.

60, also has been diocesan chancellor and moderator of the diocese since 2020. Born in Philadelphia and raised in Nevada, he was ordained a priest for Las Vegas Jan. 16, 1988.

Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio, announced the appointment in Washington May 28.

The Diocese of Las Vegas, headed by Bishop George L. Thomas, covers over 39,000 square miles and has 620,000 Catholics out of a total population of about 2.3 million.

Born on Oct. 4, 1960, in Philadelphia, Gordon moved with his family to Boulder City, Nevada in 1972.

He attended St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia from 1978 to 1980, then went to St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in suburban Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, from 1980 to 1983.

He received a bachelor of sacred theology degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1986 and the following year earned a licentiate of sacred theology from the Pontifical Lateran University, which also is in Rome.

After his 1988 ordination, Gordon was assigned to at St. Francis de Sales Parish in Las Vegas, serving two years as parochial vicar. He then served as associate pastor (1990-1991), then administrator (1991-1992) at St. Anne Parish in Las Vegas. From 1992 to 1993, he was in campus ministry at the University of Las Vegas.

Over the past several years, his assignments included serving as administrator for a year at St. Christopher Parish in North Las Vegas (1994-1995), then as pastor there (1995 to 2003). He was pastor at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Henderson, Nevada, from 2004 to 2007.

From 2007 to 2014, he was assigned to the apostolic nunciature in Washington. He was pastor at St. Anne Parish in Las Vegas from 2014 until his 2020 appointment to his current diocesan posts.

Gordon speaks English and Spanish.