Diocese to welcome Santa Rosa's bishop
By Kathleen Ogle
Managing Editor
PISCATAWAY — The Diocese of Metuchen is preparing to welcome Bishop Bernabé de Jesus Sagastume Lemus of Santa Rosa, Guatemala, for his first visit to the diocese Sept. 20-27.
Bishop Sagastume is a member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. He was appointed bishop of Santa Rosa July 28, 2007. The post had been vacant since the death of his predecessor, Bishop Julio Amilcar Bethancourt, Fioravanti in July 2006.
Metuchen and Santa Rosa are “sister dioceses” having been paired through Catholic Relief Services Global Solidarity Partnership in 2004.
Father Joseph J. Kerrigan, director of the Catholic Charities Solidarity Team, said that as Bishop Sagastume was preparing to lead the Santa Rosa Diocese, he had hoped he would find a sister diocese.
“It was a very pleasant surprise for him to know that he already had one,” Father Kerrigan said.
“This visit will give him the opportunity to get to know the Diocese of Metuchen first hand.”
Father Kerrigan said that an important purpose of the visit is for Bishop Sagastume and Bishop Paul G. Bootkoski to meet and gain a mutual understanding of the present and future of the partnership.
Since Bishop Sagastume’s appointment in Santa Rosa, he has hosted members of the diocese’s youth ministry, the Catholic Charities Solidarity Team, a delegation from Queenship of Mary Parish in Plainsboro, and physicians from Saint Peter’s University Hospital. The visit will give Bishop Sagastume the opportunity to deepen those ties.
Michael Wojcik, director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, said that the teens who participated in delegations to Santa Rosa are excited about the bishop’s visit.
“We are so happy we are able to extend our hospitality to those who have generously given so much of themselves every time we visit,” Wojcik said.
Bishop Sagastume will preside at the Diocesan Youth Mass Sept. 21 at St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Port Reading. Following the Mass, the bishop will talk with the youth through a translator as well as field questions.
Wojcik said the youth ministry is creating a banner to present to the bishop for Santa Rosa’s youth ministry “to express our solidarity with our friends there.”
In addition, the youth ministry will present to the bishop their fundraising projects for education, health, and clean water projects for the children of Santa Rosa.
Another highlight of the visit will be Bishop Sagastume’s participation as a panelist at an immigration forum Sept.22 at Queenship of Mary Parish.
“His participation will be of benefit to anyone who wants to gain a full picture, on both sides of borders, for the need for comprehensive immigration reform,” Father Kerrigan said.
“He can speak not only of villages in his diocese that have been emptied because of people seeking a better life in Mexico or the U.S. but also of deportees who are now returning to bleak futures.”
Bishop Sagastume’s schedule
Sept. 21 — Mass, 9 a.m., Sacred Heart Parish, New Brunswick;Diocesan Youth Mass, 5 p.m.,
St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Port Reading
Sept. 22 — Immigration Forum, 7:30 p.m., Queenship of Mary Parish, Plainsboro
Sept. 23 — Catholic Charities Solidarity Team presents Jazz Vespers with the Vince Fay Ensemble, 6 p.m., Sacred Heart Parish, New Brunswick
Sept. 25 — Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, 9:30 a.m., Perth Amboy; Mass, 6 p.m.,
Queenship of Mary Parish, Plainsboro
Sept. 26 — Tour of Saint Peter's University Hospital, New Brunswick, 12 noon; Harvest of Hope Dinner, 6 p.m., Sacred Heart Parish, New Brunswick
