Episcopalians ordain first Latina bishop: Will serve Olympia, Washington, diocese
Bavi Edna Rivera, a priest from California, became the first woman Latino-heritage bishop in the Episcopal Church when she was ordained last month as the suffragan, or assistant, bishop for the Diocece of Olympia, Washington.
Nedi, as she prefers to be called, is the 12th woman elevated to the episcopacy. Her path might have been hard to predict inasmuch as her father, retired Bishop Victor M. Rivera, who served the San Joaquin, California, diocese from 1968 to 1988, was an outspoken opponent of women’s ordination.