Hundreds of people gathered in south Sacramento on Sunday night to honor a religious icon more than three decades after his passing.
Sacramento’s lowrider and Hispanic communities came together to remember Bishop Alphonse Gallegos. He served as Sacramento’s auxiliary bishop from 1981 to 1991 – and he touched so many lives during that time.
The lowrider community came out in full force Sunday night in front of St. Rose Catholic Church in Sacramento for “The Bishop’s Cruise.”
Richard Alcala, who helped organize the event, said he remembers cruising on the streets of Sacramento in the late 1970s, which is when he met Gallegos.
As an advocate for lowriders, Gallegos would bless the cars. That was reenacted Sunday night in his honor by an emissary representing the Vatican. Alcala also said Gallegos was a champion for members of the Hispanic community, and he worked to put them on the right path.
“It was like having a father figure in the street,” Alcala said. “He would come out, talk to us, tell us to stay out of trouble, and talk to a parole officer if he had to, and just stay in school, and basically stay out of trouble.”
Gallegos was ordained as Sacramento’s auxiliary bishop in 1981, after already being well-known for his ministry working with young Hispanics in Los Angeles. Catholics mourned his death in October 1991, when he was hit by a car while helping a stranded motorist.
There is an ongoing effort to grant Gallegos sainthood. His body was exhumed in 2010 as part of that process. In order to become a saint, officials said there need to be two miracles attributed to Gallegos, that can not be explained by science. Now, more than three decades after his death, city leaders in Sacramento said they hope to make “The Bishop’s Cruise” an annual event.
Full story at kcra.com.
I do not know if Fr. Gallegos should be made a saint, but may he, through the mercy of God rest in peace. It seems he did a good job keeping peace among the low riders, the police and the public. I am not a night person as St. Paul warns us that too much evil is done at night, so I did not see many of the night cruises. Sometimes during the day when I got in back of a slow-moving low rider, I got annoyed, but on the other hand when one would occasionally pop up to regular level, I would have a good laugh, and we would all be on our way.
to be real, a low rider can be no more than one taco shell above the pavement.
I have often wondered how the low riders have managed to keep their cars in such good shape. One would think that such cars would be scraped along the front bottom when backing out of a driveway because they are so low. They must pop them up when backing out. It is quite entertaining when one of them pops up and down several times. It makes me laugh,
My first car (in 1975) was a 1962 Chevy Bel Air. After I sold it, I saw it one evening (I think on El Camino Real), but I barely recognized it. I knew it was the car I previously owned by the license plate. It had been repainted, baby moons were added, it was “lowered” and a bobble head chihuahua was looking out the rear window. Nice ride.
Now, I drive a 2007 Buick, an old guy’s car (that I got from my parents), that will never be made into a classic.