Bishop of San Ignacio de Velasco
Robert Herman Flock Bever was born in Sparta, Wisconsin, USA, on November 4, 1956. He completed his secondary education at two institutions: from 1970 to 1971 at the Holy Cross Diocesan Seminary of the Diocese of La Crosse, and from 1970 to 1974 at Holy Name Seminary in Madison. He attended Edgewood College in Madison from 1974 to 1976 and St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee from 1976 to 1978, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts (Psychology) and a Bachelor’s degree in Theology. From 1978 to 1983, he attended the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he obtained a Licentiate in Biblical Theology, while residing at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He was ordained a priest on July 9, 1982, for the Diocese of La Crosse, where he served in the following roles: 1982: Parochial Vicar at St. Patrick Parish in Onalaska; 1983: Parochial Vicar at Our Lady of Peace Parish in Marshfield and Chaplain at Columbus High School in the same city; 1985: Pastor of St. Stephen Parish in Chili. In 1988, having arrived in the Archdiocese of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, as a *fidei donum* priest, he held the following positions: 1988: Parochial Vicar at La Santa Cruz Parish; 1989–2000: Head of Vocations Ministry; 2000–present: Pastor of La Santa Cruz Parish; 1997–2001: Executive Secretary of the Archdiocesan Synod Commission; 1997–2003: Episcopal Vicar for the San Lorenzo Vicariate; 2003–2012: Vicar General of the Archdiocese. He is currently the Pastor of La Santa Cruz Parish and is responsible for the spiritual accompaniment and formation of young priests in the Archdiocese.