Bishop Aclan in stable condition following stroke

Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop Alex D. Aclan has been hospitalized in intensive care after suffering a stroke over the weekend. 

The 71-year-old is in stable condition at an area hospital and is undergoing observation and testing, according to an Aug. 22 email sent to clergy and staff of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ San Fernando Pastoral Region. The stroke happened on Saturday, Aug. 20, his office said. 

“The Bishop is in good spirits, but very tired,” read the update from the regional office. “He is very thankful for all your prayers.”

An email message sent to all archdiocesan employees on behalf of Bishop Aclan’s family also requested prayers for the bishop. His hospitalization comes as his fellow archdiocesan priests begin their annual three-day presbyteral convocation in La Quinta, California.

Archbishop José H. Gomez said that he and his brother priests and bishops will be praying for Bishop Aclan’s full and speedy recovery. 

“We entrust Bishop Aclan to the maternal care of Our Lady of Guadalupe and we ask that she bring him healing and strength and give comfort to his family and loved ones,” the Archbishop said. 

Bishop Aclan has overseen the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’s San Fernando Pastoral Region since becoming a bishop in 2019. 

Originally from the Philippines, he had a successful career in information processing before immigrating to California in the early 1980s. A few years later, he entered St. John’s Seminary and was ordained a priest of the archdiocese in 1993. He ministered in several parishes before he was named Vicar for Clergy for the archdiocese in 2015.