The Roman Catholic Diocese of Monterey includes the California counties of Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito, and San Luis Obispo. 36 percent of the population covered by the Diocese is Catholic, equaling 200,000 souls. 40,000 regularly attend mass. The Diocese is made up of 46 individual parishes and is led by Bishop Richard Garcia, a priest born in San Francisco to Mexican immigrant parents in 1947.

In 2009, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops elected Garcia a member of the Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC) where he sits on the board. Garcia is also a member of Migration and Refugee Services, Subcommittee on Hispanics Affairs and the Committee on Cultural Diversity in the Church.