Diocese welcomes Bishop-Elect Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez
PALM BEACH GARDENS | Bishop-Elect Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez is scheduled to be ordained a bishop and installed as the sixth shepherd of the Diocese of Palm Beach at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24, at the Cathedral of St. Ignatius Loyola, 9999 N. Military Trail in Palm Beach Gardens. (Details of this event will be forthcoming.)
On Dec. 19, Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito and appointed Bishop-Elect Rodríguez, a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York, and a native of the Dominican Republic, as the new leader of the five-county diocese. The announcement was made shortly after 6 a.m. on the diocesan website and social media and later during a news conference in the cathedral’s Family Life Center.
Bishop Barbarito, himself a native of Brooklyn, began with a prayer and introduced the bishop-elect, who was ordained in the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, July 3, 2004. Before his ordination, he was admitted to the Salesians of Don Bosco in 1993, and made his final profession to the religious congregation Sept. 22, 2002. He was incardinated into the Diocese of Brooklyn in 2012, where he has served as parochial vicar and pastor of four parishes. He has served as pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Corona, Queens, since 2020.
After introducing himself at the news conference, Bishop-Elect Rodríguez explained his reaction to receiving a phone call about 4:30 p.m. Dec. 14 with his caller I.D. displaying “Apostolic Nunciature.”
“When I answered, the caller identified himself as the apostolic nuncio, Cardinal Pierre, and without delay said to me: ‘The Holy Father has appointed you bishop of Palm Beach.’ I must confess that I only managed to hear the words ‘Holy Father’ and ‘beach.’ My reaction was one of utter disbelief,” he said. “I replied: ‘Are you certain that you are the apostolic nuncio? Is this perhaps some kind of artificial intelligence prank or something of the sort?’
“Cardinal Pierre, laughing kindly, assured me that it was indeed he and that I should believe him precisely because it was he. At that moment, I recognized his unmistakable French accent and realized the call was genuine. And then — I was terrified,” the bishop-elect said.
After accepting the Holy Father’s appointment, Bishop-Elect Rodríguez contacted his bishop, Bishop Robert J. Brennan of Brooklyn, to catch his breath and “begin to comprehend what was happening,” he said. He then received an encouraging call from Bishop Barbarito, “to whom I shall always be deeply grateful for his exquisite kindness, fraternal spirit and pastoral accompaniment.”
During the media conference, Bishop Barbarito said, “With all of you, I welcome him to our diocesan family, which will be greatly blessed by his ministry, and I very much look forward to getting to know him, as in just a few days he has shown himself to be a deeply spiritual and exceptional priest.” The bishop added that he has taken on the role of bishop emeritus of the diocese and apostolic administrator until Bishop-Elect Rodríguez’s ordination.
After answering questions from the media, the bishop-elect made new friends with those who make up his new flock. Afterward, he celebrated Mass with Bishop Barbarito, local clergy leaders and members of the diocesan staff.
In his homily, Bishop-Elect Rodríguez thanked God for blessing the Diocese of Palm Beach with fruitful ministries and allowing the faithful to evangelize and bear witness to their faith in Jesus, “because, my dear brothers, my dear sisters, our world needs our testimony.”
Referring to the day’s Gospel reading (Luke 1:5-25) about the birth of St. John the Baptist to his elderly parents, Elizabeth and Zechariah, he said, “Elizabeth’s testimony of faith and her thanksgiving have become for us now a testimony of inspiration because every time the Lord blesses us with something, it’s in order for us to share it and to help inspire the lives of others.”
He encouraged them to be inspired by the life of St. John the Baptist, who was a bridge for the ages to the ancient practice of prayer, sacrifice and openness to God.
“The work that we do on behalf of the Lord, on behalf of Jesus Christ, is most needed in our world that is divided, in a world that is violent, in our world that is growingly atheist, in a world that is losing faith, a world that is falling apart from the Lord, drifting away from God, a world that is every day more aggressively against the values that we stand for. This is why the work that we are called to continue achieving is so important. In the person of St. John the Baptist, we have been given a tremendous role model.
See to the video at www.diocesepb.org/welcome-bishop.html
“Let’s continue our common mission, our common journey, trusting in God’s power, trusting in God’s life, trusting in God’s strength and, in all humbleness, knowing that we are here because we are also needed. Each one of us. Each one of our priests, each one of our amazing laypeople, each one of our volunteers, each one of our deacons, we all are needed in an urgent way because the work that we are meant to achieve is urgent. It’s urgent to spread the Good News of salvation here in Palm Beach. Thank you for joining in this mission.”
At the end of the Mass, Bishop Barbarito thanked the bishop-elect for “being with us today, for accepting the call to be the bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach, and we promise him our continued prayers and support as we journey together as one family.”
Following the liturgy, a small group from the diocesan Pastoral Center accompanied Bishop-Elect Rodríguez and Bishop Barbarito on a visit to the Catholic Charities headquarters in Riviera Beach. The bishop-elect met board members, staff and volunteers, toured offices, learned about diocesan-wide programs and ministries, and blessed a new chapel.
Jean Gonzalez of the Florida Catholic contributed to this report.
To learn more about Bishop-Elect Rodríguez’s life and ministry, visit www.diocesepb.org/welcome-bishop.html. Included there is a nine-minute video produced by America Media in New York City when he was pastor of Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Jamaica, Queens (2014-2020).
