CORONA — As Bishop-designate Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez contemplates moving in February to his new episcopacy in the Diocese of Palm Beach, Florida, he’ll carry two recently received items: a red zucchetto and a pectoral cross.
Both are gifts from Bishop Robert Brennan, who, when asked to contribute three names of priests from the Diocese of Brooklyn as recommendations for future bishops, according to protocols, he included the pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish.
Bishop-designate Rodríguez has served as the parish’s pastor for six years. On Dec. 19, Pope Leo XIV named him to succeed Bishop Gerald Barbarito, 75, as shepherd of the Diocese of Palm Beach.
Along with the red skull cap and cross, Bishop Brennan also offered vital counsel to Bishop-designate Rodríguez, who said he was shocked and humbled to be chosen by the pope.
“Bishop Brennan gave me wonderful advice and reassurances,” he recalled. “Then I went to the chapel upstairs (in the rectory), and I stayed there a couple of hours trying to make sense of this, because it is a big thing.
“One of the first things coming to my mind was, ‘I’m going to have to leave Brooklyn.’ I mean, that’s not easy.”
Now, with his episcopal ordination and installation set for Feb. 24, the native of the Dominican Republic began reflecting on his nearly 16 years serving parishes in Brooklyn and Queens.
He first came to the diocese in 2009 and became incardinated here two years later. He said his work in the diocese has prepared him to lead the flock of Palm Beach.
For one, he is a canon lawyer who has also served the diocese as a promoter of justice and as a delegate of the bishop for penal cases.
But he speaks the most happily about his accomplishments with youth, the poor, and newcomers to the U.S. in the four parishes he served in “the Diocese of Immigrants.”
Included are parochial vicar for St. Michael Parish in Sunset Park, 2009-2011; pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Williamsburg, 2011-2014; pastor of Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Jamaica, 2014-2020; and pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish in Corona since 2020.
“I feel particularly happy for the different ministries (of) evangelization works,” he said. “For example, when I was in St. Michael’s, we had Bible studies for anybody interested; same thing in Williamsburg at Sts. Peter and Paul.
“Out of those groups, I have the joy to say, vocations were born.”
As examples, he mentioned Deacon George Velez at Sts. Peter and Paul, who is now the coordinator for clergy personnel in the diocese, and Deacon Hugo Morel of the same parish.
Bishop-designate Rodríguez and his parish staff created new programs for youth at the two Brooklyn parishes, as he did for the two parishes in Queens.
But, at Presentation in Jamaica, he especially appreciated the opportunity to teach second-year confirmation students in the religious education program.
“That really allowed me to connect with those kids,” he said, “the way they see things and their struggles.”
Our Lady of Sorrows is known as the church home for Ecuadoran, Mexican, and other Hispanic groups, including a few Venezuelans, he said. There, as with his previous parishes, he facilitated opportunities for food pantries to help the poor, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He chuckled at the memory of how, in July of 2020, he received a visit from Corona’s representative in Congress, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who came to explore helping with a food distribution.
For that, Bishop-designate Rodríguez confirmed he took “some heat” from people who assail “AOC” for her progressive agenda, especially as an advocate for abortion.
Meanwhile, his pro-life record is clear. At both Queens parishes, he organized regular demonstrations outside abortion clinics. He said there are 15 of them near his parish in Corona.
“The last Saturday of every month, we have a pro-life Mass at 8 a.m., and then we have our pro-life march to a clinic, and we pray very respectfully,” he said.
Still, he added, he avoids partisan politics and would meet with anyone willing to support a ministry of the Church, whether it be AOC or President Donald Trump, who owns a significant piece of property in the Diocese of Palm Beach — the exclusive club Mar-a-Lago.
The bishop-designate said he is eager to join the ministries in his new diocese, where the clergy, religious, laity, and parishioners have welcomed him “with open arms.” He has no doubt they will continue to make him feel at home.
For now, he is bracing for the jolt of leaving the people he has served for the better part of two decades.
“Here in the parish, my people are still adapting to the idea,” he said. “So there is joy, but there is sadness too.
“But, at the end of the day, we are soldiers of the Church. And, if God thinks I should go there, then I go, praising God.”