Ricardo Ramírez

Ricardo Ramírez, C.S.B. (born September 12, 1936) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, who served as the first Bishop of the Diocese of Las Cruces from 1982-2013.

Ricardo Ramírez was born in Bay City, Texas, as the second of the two children of Natividad and Maria (née Espinosa) Ramírez. He attended Latin American School Jefferson Davis Grammar from 1942 to 1950, and Bay City High School from 1951 to 1955. Ramírez then studied at the University of St. Thomas in Houston, from where he obtained his Bachelor's degree in 1959. He later joined the Congregation of St. Basil, more commonly known as the Basilian Fathers, and studied at St. Basil's Seminary in Toronto from 1963 to 1965, whence he entered the Seminario Conciliar in Mexico City.

Ramírez was ordained to the priesthood on December 10, 1966, and then assigned to St. Mary's Church in Owen Sound, Canada. He studied at the University of Detroit from 1967 to 1968, there earning his Master of Arts degree, and then served as chaplain to university students at the Centro Cultural Aragón in Mexico City until 1970. Whilst working on the Family Religious Education Project in Tehuacán from 1970 to 1976, Ramírez furthered his studies at the East Asian Pastoral Institute of the Ateneo de Manila University in Manila (1973-1974). Upon his return to the United States, he was Executive Vice President of the Mexican American Cultural Center, now the Mexican American Catholic College, in San Antonio from 1976 to 1981.

On October 27, 1981, Ramírez was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio and Titular Bishop of Vatarba by Pope John Paul II. He received episcopal consecration on the following December 6 from Archbishop Patrick Flores, with Bishops John Morkovsky and Rafael Ayala y Ayala serving as co-consecrators. Ramírez was later named the first Bishop of Las Cruces, New Mexico, on August 17, 1982, being formally installed as such on the following October 18.

Within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, he sits on the International Policy Committee, the Committee on the Liturgy, and the Committee on Hispanic Affairs. He formerly chaired the Committee on the Church in Latin America and the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. He also is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Catholic Common Ground Initiative.

On January 10, 2013, Ramírez's resignation was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI, at the same time announcing the appointment of his successor, Oscar Cantú.