Alexander Salazar

Alejandro Salazar (born November 28, 1949) is a Costa Rican-born American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Salazar served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles from 2004 to 2018.

Salazar resigned as auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles in 2018 after a sexual misconduct charge against him was deemed credible by the archdiocese and the Vatican. In August 2023, Salazar was convicted of two sexual abuse felonies following a no contest plea.

Alejandro Salazar was born on November 28, 1949, in San José, Costa Rica, but moved with his family to Los Angeles in 1953. He attended Daniel Murphy High School in Los Angeles, then entered East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, California.

Salazar then attended California State University, Los Angeles and Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree in bilingual studies in 1978. From 1968 to 1979, Salazar taught at St. Albert the Great School in Compton, California. In 1977, Salazar entered St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, California.

Salazar was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles by Cardinal Timothy Manning on June 16, 1984. After his ordination, Salazar served as associate pastor at the following parishes in Southern California:

In 1995, Salazar was appointed pastor of St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Silverlake, California, assigned there until 2004. He also served as dean of Deanery 14, and as a member of the Council of Priests, the college of Consultors, the Clergy Pension Board, and the Archdiocesan Personnel Board. In 2003, Salazar was named vice-chancellor of the archdiocese and the Vatican elevated him to the rank of honorary chaplain of his holiness.

On September 7, 2004, Pope John Paul II appointed Salazar as auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles and titular bishop of Nesqually. He was consecrated at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles on November 4, 2004, by Cardinal Roger Mahony, with Bishops Gabino Zavala and Gustavo Garcia-Siller serving as co-consecrators. Salazar selected as his episcopal motto: "Do What Jesus Tells You" (John 2:5).

According to a 2018 statement by Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, a person accused Salazar of sexual misconduct during the 1990s when Salazar was a parish priest in Pasadena. Salazar denied any wrongdoing. In 2002, the claimant reported their allegations to the Pasadena Police Department; after an investigation, the district attorney declined to press criminal charges against Salazar.