Future successor hails from the Orange Diocese

He’s ministered for the past 25 years in Orange County — as a priest, as vicar for the Hispanic community, Catholic Charities and as an auxiliary bishop.

So when the newly-appointed coadjutor bishop of Sacramento moves to Northern California in mid-November, he’ll face a learning curve and says his first job will be to cover lots of ground to see what makes the people of the diocese tick.

Coadjutor Bishop Jaime Soto, appointed by Pope Benedict XVI on Oct. 11, will share pastoral and administrative responsibilities with Bishop William K. Weigand.

As coadjutor, Bishop Soto, 51, will automatically succeed Bishop Weigand upon his retirement or death. For the past seven years he has served as an auxiliary bishop of Orange and is one of 25 active Hispanic Catholic bishops in the United States.

A Mass to welcome him to the diocese will be celebrated Nov. 19 in the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in downtown Sacramento.

Since January, when former Auxiliary Bishop Richard J. Garcia was installed as bishop of the Monterey Diocese, Bishop Weigand has continued to bear the responsibilities of ministering, traveling and serving the 103 parishes of the diocese, which encompasses more than 42,000 square miles, from the San Francisco Bay to the Oregon border.

In a prepared statement, Bishop Weigand assured his new coadjutor “of the prayers of all our people.” He said he is pleased he will have assistance in shepherding “this vast 20-county diocese.”

“I have watched his work throughout the state and he has become a good friend and is very talented,” Bishop Weigand said about his new coadjutor at a morning press conference in the plaza in front of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament.

“I have been doing the work of two bishops these past several months, so you can imagine that I am quite relieved,” he said.

Bishop Weigand, who is 70 and underwent a liver transplant in 2005, said he had “no immediate plans to retire.” He continues as bishop until age 75 unless he chooses to retire earlier.

In prepared remarks he delivered in both English and Spanish (see full text, page 13) at the press conference, Bishop Soto said that over the years he has admired the work of Bishop Weigand and “the extensive pastoral ministry” of his diocese.

“The expanse and diversity of the church’s evangelizing endeavors are daunting,” he said. “I come to partner with Bishop Weigand in the privileged task of shepherding this dynamic Catholic community.”

Bishop Soto became emotional and held back tears when he talked about leaving friends and family in the Diocese of Orange “who have carried me, caressed me, pushed me and prepared me for this juncture of the journey.”

“I’m not sure what the future holds, but I’m sure there will be plenty to do and lots to learn,” he noted. “I look forward to many good years in the Diocese of Sacramento.”

Bishop Soto told reporters he looks forward to getting to know the laity, religious and clergy throughout the diocese, which has a Catholic population of more than 550,000.

“I’ll do what I can to learn the roads and get myself out to the parish communities,” he said. “I am interested in getting out to schools and seeing the young people – and hopefully not get myself lost — I will be in the market for a GPS system.”

The bishop, who grew up in Stanton in Orange County and is the grandson of Mexican immigrants, is known particularly for his efforts on AIDS awareness and on behalf of immigrants and immigration reform during his many years of work in Catholic Charities and as an auxiliary bishop. He said he will continue to speak out for marginalized persons.

“The work of announcing the Gospel continues no matter where you are,” he said. “It’s announcing a gospel of life and hope and creating a society that includes all, particularly the unborn and particularly those who are in any way marginalized or forgotten. That in a special way includes the immigrant community in our state who are currently going through a time of great anxiety.”

In an interview with The Herald on the second day of his visit to the diocese, the bishop said he is the oldest of seven children and grew up in a traditional Mexican American Catholic family.

“We only hung around with either our family or fellow parishioners,” he said. “It was in this kind of context that my vocation to the priesthood was fostered. I knew I wanted to be a priest in the second grade.”

He only learned Spanish after he was ordained to the priesthood to help with his ministry in the Latino community.

“I didn’t speak Spanish growing up,” he said. “My parents came from the experience of discrimination when they were growing up, so they made the decision when we were young to speak English to us and to speak Spanish among themselves. But my siblings and I developed an ear for Spanish.”

Since Latinos make up about 45 percent of the Catholic population in the diocese and are the fastest growing segment of the church in the United States, ministering to them will be a priority, Bishop Soto said. But he hopes to work closely with parishioners from all ethnic communities and “encourage them to engage one another in the church and recognize their talents, because we are stronger when we work together.”

“As ethnically diverse as the Diocese of Orange is, I am immediately aware that the Sacramento Diocese has greater ethnic complexities,” he said. “I see that there are communities I have not traditionally worked with, so I’m looking forward to this experience. Church leaders have the responsibility to engage the whole church.”

Bishop Soto traveled with Bishop Weigand to meet the diocesan and religious order priests of the diocese who were gathered in convocation at Konocti Resort in Clear Lake at the time of his appointment as coadjutor bishop.

“There is great diversity among the priests, but I got the strong sense that even given this diversity, there is a great deal of respect for one another,” he said. “I am heartened by this and the priests were very welcoming to me.”

Since he has spent most of his life in Southern California, getting familiar with Northern California will consume much of his time in the first few months after he moves to Sacramento, he said.

“Personally, just the geography in itself will be a challenge, because I know how important it is for a bishop to be present to the people,” he said. “I’m coming to a whole new area with some areas of ministry that I’m not really familiar with, mostly working in a rural setting. But I’m excited by the possibilities ahead.”

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