Papal Appointment in Florida
On Friday, Pope Leo XIV announced the appointment of Rev. Manuel de Jesús Rodríguez as the new bishop of the Diocese of Palm Beach in Florida. Rodríguez currently serves as pastor of a church in Queens, New York, with a large Hispanic congregation.
Connection to Presidential Estate
The Palm Beach diocese includes Mar-a-Lago, the Florida estate of President Donald Trump. Trump's immigration policies have been criticized by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
"I never, never, never expected anything even close to this," Rodríguez told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Friday from Palm Beach, where he was visiting a homeless shelter.
"I'm even a little bit scared. But I trust in God's assistance," he said. "One thing I can tell you is that this diocese is a diocese of hard-working priests and hard-working people, and I'm here to help."
Background and Advocacy
Rodríguez was born in the Dominican Republic and ordained in 2004. He has been a strong supporter of migrant rights, with most of his 17,000 congregants at Our Lady of Sorrows church being immigrants.
Earlier this year, Rodríguez joined other religious leaders expressing concern about how Trump administration immigration policies have created fear in migrant communities.
"The president is doing really good things, not only for the United States, but for the world. But when it comes to the migrant, the immigration policy, we want to help," Rodríguez said. "We want to assist the president as a church because we believe that we can do better ... than the way we're doing this right now."
Church Position on Immigration
Rodríguez emphasized his alignment with Catholic teaching that defends migrant rights while acknowledging nations' rights to control borders.
"When it comes to enforcing immigration laws, we shouldn't be enforcing them by focusing on deporting 5-year-olds, 12-year-olds, 9-year-old kids, people that have never committed any crime. So, we're here to help. We're willing to help, and God willing, we will," Rodríguez said.
He added: "The Church's position about this important and urgent matter has been made crystal clear by the bishops of the United States."
Broader Context
The Vatican announced Rodríguez's appointment shortly after Pope Leo accepted the resignation of Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who had connections to Trump through prayer at his inauguration and service on a religious liberty commission.
U.S. bishops have been united in their support for migrants, issuing a special message earlier this year criticizing mass deportations and the treatment of immigrants in detention centers.
"Migrants are not to be demonized ... Good migrant people that are here to work hard for their families — they share many of our core values," Rodríguez said. "They're to be not to be rejected and treated harshly but instead, they're to be treated respectfully and with dignity. So, that's the idea, and Pope Leo is backing us up in this."
