Bishop Guy Sansaricq is Amazing!
(and I don't speak Creole!)
His Excellency, Bishop Guy Sansaricq is Titular Bishop of Glenndálocha and retired Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn, NY sent me a private Tweet today, asking me to take a look at his trailer. It's not every day that a Catholic Bishop asks for my help, so I jumped at the chance to assist. The teaser is short and is exactly what you would expect... a teaser. However, this lead me to learn a little more about this project and to learn a little bit more about this wonderful Bishop.
So the first place I checked out was the webpage for the Diocese of Brooklyn
BISHOP GUY A. SANSARICQ, RETIRED AUXILIARYBorn in Jeremie, Haiti, Oct. 6, 1934, into a devout Catholic family, Auxiliary Bishop Guy A. Sansaricq decided at age 13 that he wanted to become a priest. He attended the seminary of the Jeremie Diocese for five years, after which he received a scholarship to St. Paul’s Pontifical Seminary in Ottawa, Canada, where he studied philosophy and theology for seven years. In 1960 he was ordained a priest in the cathedral in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
After ordination he was assigned to the cathedral is Les Cayes, but after a year he was assigned by his bishop to serve as chaplain for Haitian immigrants in the Bahamas, ministering from the Benedictine Priory of St. Francis in Nassau. In seven years in that work, he became aware of the plight of immigrants, and especially undocumented immigrants.
When he completed his work in the Bahamas, he was given a scholarship to study social sciences at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he received a master’s degree in 1971.
In that same year, he was accepted to serve in the Diocese of Brooklyn and was assigned to Sacred Heart parish in Cambria Heights, where he served for 22 years. During that time, he was appointed diocesan coordinator of the Haitian Apostolate. In 1987 he was selected by the U.S. bishops to head the National Haitian Apostolate.
In 1993, he was named pastor of St. Jerome’s Church in Flatbush, where he has continued to minister. He was named a Prelate of Honor by Pope John Paul II in 1999.
Bishop Sansaricq’s involvements include publishing a quarterly newsletter on Haitian matters concerning the Church, conducting a pastoral institute in Creole that attracts 90 students annually and organizing an annual convention of the Haitian Apostolate, and coordinating an annual retreat for priests and a yearly youth congress. He is also a co-founder of Haitian-Americans United for Progress, a service agency.
Surprisingly, the website did not show when he was ordained a Bishop, but GCatholic.org never lets me down.
Bishop Guy Sansaricq (80)
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He has been filming a YouTube talks as well, today (Palm Sunday) he actually released one where he talks about Palm Sunday. https://youtu.be/93tPWQooQFo?t=21
I've been checking out his YouTube videos and I have been rather enjoying them. He has a wonderful way of speaking and isn't afraid to tell people to attend Confession. However, I was sad to see that very few people had been watching his videos. So while I don't speak Creole, I really appreciate that this retired Bishop is still very active. He's filming YouTube videos at 80 years old, creating an Audio Bible in Creole, and still leading a Haitian Apostolate.
So, if your parish or diocese has a Creole Mass, a Haitian Apostolate, and/or a Ministry for Black Catholics, please point them in the direction of the good Bishop's Bible in Creole Teaser and his YouTube page.
God Bless you for reading this Blog and may The Lord continue to bless this wonderful priest & bishop who is 80 years young and still trying to spread the Gospel! Amen.
