NEWARK — Father Pedro Bismarck Chau, on Sept. 8, emerged from the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart as the newly ordained auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Newark, hoping to be a “good shepherd” like Jesus.
Auxiliary Bishop Chau, 58, is the first Nicaraguan-born prelate in the United States. Born in 1967 in Managua, he came to the U.S. in 1984 as a teen asylum seeker, spent time in Brooklyn, and was ordained in 2008 in the Archdiocese of Newark.
He will now serve as the regional bishop for Hudson County.
At the close of his rite of ordination Mass, the new bishop reflected on the Gospel reading, John 10:11-14, in which Jesus describes himself as the “good shepherd.”
“The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep,” the passage states. “I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”
“Thomas Aquinas once said no one can be a good pastor, a good shepherd, unless he’s one with Christ and charity,” Auxiliary Bishop Chau told the congregation. “Pray for me that I may remain in Christ’s love, in my service to you, and that I may reflect for you the image of the good shepherd.”
Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Archbishop of Newark, presided over the rite of ordination and also served as the principal celebrant and homilist for the Mass.
He, too, beseeched the congregation for support.
“I ask you to avoid excessive and unrealistic expectations of my new bishop and the other bishops that serve this local Church,” Cardinal Tobin said. “Remember that we, too, are fragile brothers, exposed to temptation, in need of help like everyone else.”
Cardinal Tobin added that “an unrealistic image of the delicate and sensitive ministry of bishops” makes fulfilling the role almost impossible.
“On the other hand,” he said, “our ministry is greatly enhanced when in a truly synodal Church, it is supported by the active participation of the entire people of God.”
Assisting Cardinal Tobin as co-consecrators were two emeriti bishops of the Archdiocese of Newark, John Flesey and Gregory Studerus, whose retirement created the opening filled by now-Auxiliary Bishop Chau.
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Also attending were prelates from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C., Louisiana, and the Diocese of Brooklyn, including Bishop Robert Brennan, Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio, and Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Octavio Cisneros.
Also concelebrating the Mass was Auxiliary Bishop Silvio José Báez from the Archdiocese of Managua.
Cardinal Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, read the mandate from Pope Leo XIV, which called upon the bishop-elect to serve in the Archdiocese of Newark.
During his remarks, Auxiliary Bishop Chau drew laughter when he recalled how Cardinal Pierre phoned him on April 15 and told him upfront that it wasn’t the Internal Revenue Service calling him about his taxes.
“He literally said, ‘Bismarck, it’s not bad news I have for you,’ ” Auxiliary Bishop Chau said.
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Instead, Cardinal Pierre was calling to say that he had been chosen to be the next regional bishop for the nearly 50 parishes in Hudson County. As such, he will assist Cardinal Tobin in serving the Church throughout northern New Jersey alongside three other prelates — Auxiliary Bishops Manuel Cruz, Elias Lorenzo, and Michael Saporito.
The archdiocese serves an estimated 1.3 million Catholics in about 211 parishes in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Union counties.
Auxiliary Bishop Chau is the youngest of seven children, according to the archdiocese. As a boy, he helped his mother, an ardent Catholic, in caring for twin siblings, Ana Maria, who is deaf, and Marcos, who has cerebral palsy.
Nicaragua in the 1980s was politically and violently turbulent, so his mother sent him to the U.S. as a teenage asylum seeker. The future bishop eventually joined Marcos, who had come to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. There, the future bishop attended St. Mary’s Parish.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Seton Hall University and a master’s degree in theology and pastoral ministry from Immaculate Conception Seminary.
After his ordination to the priesthood on May 24, 2008, Auxiliary Bishop Chau served as pastor of St. Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral and St. John’s Church in Newark, and as chaplain for the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University. He became rector of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in 2020.
Out of deep devotion to his sister Ana Maria, he learned American Sign Language and for 17 years was chaplain for the deaf community in the archdiocese.
He has pledged to keep serving its members. In his closing remarks, the new auxiliary bishop addressed them with sign language, while a volunteer interpreted for the congregation.
“I promise,” Auxiliary Bishop Chau signed, “to continue walking with you and leading you to Jesus for as long as I am able. I love you.”
