Fr. Oscar is a native of El Salvador, Central America. He came to the U.S.A. in 1972, and graduated from San Francisco State University in 1977, with a B.A. in Cell Biology. He entered the Franciscans while living in San Francisco in 1982, and studied at F.S.T. (Franciscan School of Theology) in Berkeley. He was ordained to the priesthood on Dec 16, 1989. His first assignment was as a parochial vicar at St. Anthony of Padua church in San Francisco. He went back to his country to study medicine and graduated in 2000. He practiced medicine for several years. Fr. Oscar has been a pastor at St. Anthony’s in San Francisco, and St. Elizabeth’s in Oakland. He served as Vocations Director for three years with the Franciscans and came to Mission San Luis Rey Parish in April of 2018 as Associate Pastor. He has also been working as a Formation Director for the past year.  Fr. Oscar began serving as our pastor on July 1, 2020.