Bishop Cirilo Flores, the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego, has died. He was 66.

The diocese confirmed to U-T San Diego that Flores died Saturday in Mission Valley after a battle with cancer.

Flores had reportedly been ailing since April 17, when he suffered a stroke. Then, while under treatment, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, a U-T San Diego report said.

Flores was appointed the Diocese of San Diego's first Hispanic bishop a little less than a year ago a year ago. The son of a Mexican immigrant, he began his administration by reaching out to homeless migrant workers.

According to his biography posted on the San Diego diocese Website, Flores was appointed Auxiliary Bishop in Orange, California on Jan. 5, 2009 and then consecrated and installed in that position March 19, 2009; appointed Coadjutor Bishop of San Diego on Jan. 4, 2012; and then succeeded as Fifth Bishop of San Diego on Sept. 18, 2013

Flores was born in Corona, California, on June 20, 1948, the third child of Cirilo and Armida Flores. He was one of four brothers and two sisters.

He grew up in the area and attended local grade schools, graduating from St. Edward Parish School in Corona and then Notre Dame High School in Riverside.

After earning a bachelor's degree from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and a Juris Doctor law degree from Stanford University School of Law, Flores practiced law in Riverside and Los Angeles counties for 10 years before he entered St. John's Seminary in Camarillo in 1986.

He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Orange on June 8, 1991, and served as a parochial vicar at St. Barbara Parish church in Santa Ana, then St. Joachim church in Costa Mesa, Our Lady of Mount Carmel church in Newport Beach, where he also worked as administrator, and Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Habra.

In 2000, Flores was appointed pastor of St. Anne Parish in Santa Ana and then pastor of St. Norbert Parish in Orange about eight years later.

Bishop Flores served on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Subcommittee on Latin America and on the USCCB Subcommittee on Hispanic Affairs.