Soto to Fill No. 2 Seat in Orange Diocese

Msgr. Jaime Soto, a veteran priest and noted activist on immigration issues, was named second in command of Orange County’s Roman Catholic diocese on Thursday, the latest move by local church leaders to better serve their Latino congregants.

The appointment as auxiliary bishop, which puts Soto in line to become a bishop himself some day, “represents the maturity of this diocese and the significance of the Latino people here in Orange County,” said Msgr. Lawrence J. Baird, spokesman for the Diocese of Orange.

Locally and across California, the church is struggling to keep up with the need for Spanish-speaking priests and fend off competition from evangelical churches that also serve Latinos.

Bishop Tod D. Brown said he nominated Soto as the fourth auxiliary bishop in the 24-year history of the diocese to raise the profile of the Catholic church in Orange County. The appointment was formally made by Pope John Paul II and will become official with Soto’s ordination, tentatively scheduled for May 31.

“I’m going to greatly rely on his advice, which is always up to date and very wise,” Brown said in announcing the appointment Thursday. As the vicar to Latinos in the diocese for the last decade, Soto has served “in a sensitive, loving and successful way,” he said.

Soto, 44, had been considered a candidate for bishop in Orange County before Brown was appointed in 1998. He said after Thursday’s announcement that he was humbled by the appointment and has been privileged to serve the county’s estimated 480,000 Latino Catholics, who make up more than three-quarters of the county’s estimated 616,000 Catholics.

Soto said he’ll “continue to foster and promote the vision of a church rich in diversity, united in faith, generous in charity and just in all its works.” Soto said the need for Spanish-speaking priests is an issue of great importance in the diocese, where only 52 of 152 priests speak Spanish. More than 70,000 Latinos attend Spanish-speaking Masses in the county on Sundays, diocesan officials said. The need for such priests is especially acute in Santa Ana, Soto said.

Many in and outside the church noted Soto’s reputation as an activist on social issues. He made a name for himself by publicly opposing Proposition 187, the 1994 ballot initiative that sought to curb public services to illegal immigrants, and has spoken out on issues from crime to poverty, housing, health care and education.

“He has long championed the rights of those in our midst who are voiceless and powerless,” said Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles in a statement released Thursday. “He has served the Church and the community admirably as advocate for the least in our midst.”

Soto “really lives his faith,” said Rusty Kennedy, executive director of the Orange County Human Relations Commission. “He’s always had a big view of the world and makes his place with those who are the neediest.”

In particular, “he especially speaks out for immigrants,” Kennedy said. “Regardless of immigrant status, they are human beings first.”

Fellow clerics said Soto is popular among his peers and will be effective in reaching out not only to Latinos but to all Catholics in the county.

“He works well with people of all groups,” said Father Reynold Furrell, associate pastor of St. Irenaeus parish in Cypress.

Auxiliary Bishops Often Become Bishops

Auxiliary bishops are commonly tapped to head a diocese of their own. Michael Driscoll, who served 10 years as the last auxiliary bishop in Orange County, became bishop in Boise, Idaho, last year.

Driscoll succeeded Brown, who became Bishop of Orange, succeeding the now-retired Norman F. McFarland.

Local Latino leaders applauded Soto’s appointment.

“Having a Latino serve in such a high position in the church has been an answer to our private and public desires,” said Amin David, president of Los Amigos of Orange County. “Msgr. Soto knows the deep roots of the Latino community in Orange County. He says things with deep compassion and understanding.”

Soto was born in Inglewood in 1955, but his family moved to Stanton the next year.

“We’re all very excited and happy about his appointment,” said Soto’s mother, Gloria, of Stanton. “I was so nervous, I didn’t sleep last night. The phone has been ringing off the hook today.”

A 1974 Mater Dei High School graduate, Soto was ordained in 1982 after earning his master’s of divinity degree at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo.

His first assignment was to St. Joseph Church in Santa Ana for two years. He then spent two years at Columbia University in New York and earned another master’s degree in 1986, from the university’s School of Social Work. He returned to Orange County that year to work for Catholic Charities in Orange, serving as its director of Immigration and Citizenship Services for nearly three years.

In 1989, Soto was appointed vicar for the Hispanic community, a position he held for over 10 years, in addition to an appointment by Brown as vicar for charities last March. He was named monsignor by the pope in 1990.

“It’s a real coup for the Latino people because if he is second in command, that means he may one day become bishop,” said Becky Schliskey, a Latino in Los Alamitos who attends St. Hedwig Church. “That proves to me that the church really wants to serve its people.”