Bishop Daniel E. Garcia was born on August 30, 1960, and grew up in Waco and Cameron, Texas. He is bilingual in English and Spanish and has three younger sisters.

He earned an Associate of Arts degree from Tyler Junior College in 1982, followed by a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts from the University of St. Thomas in Houston in 1984, while attending St. Mary Seminary. He went on to receive a Master of Divinity in 1988. Bishop Garcia was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Austin on May 28, 1988, by Bishop John E. McCarthy. In 2007, he earned a Master of Arts in Liturgical Studies from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota.

In 2014, he was appointed Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Austin by Archbishop Joe S. Vásquez. The following year, Pope Francis appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Austin.

In 2018, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Garcia the Bishop of the Diocese of Monterey, California. Pope Leo XIV appointed Bishop Garcia as the sixth Bishop of Austin and he was installed on September 18, 2025.

Bishop Garcia currently serves on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, the Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation (chairman), and the Subcommittee on Divine Worship in Spanish.  He is also a member of the Board of Directors for Catholic Relief Services.  Bishop Garcia previously served on the USCCB Committee on Communications. (Biografía)