Bishop names new pastors

The Catholic Free Press

Bishop McManus has announced the appointment of four new pastors in the Diocese of Worcester.
Father Thien X. Nguyen is to be pastor of St. Theresa Parish, Blackstone, effective immediately. He served there as associate pastor from July 1, 2014 to July 1, 2015, when he was named administrator.
Father Juan S. Ramirez is to be pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Fitchburg, effective immediately. He has been administrator there since July 1, 2017.
Father Juan G. Herrera was named pastor of St. Edward the Confessor Parish, Westminster, effective Feb. 26. He has been associate pastor of St. Leo Parish, Leominster. Father William E. Champlin, pastor of St. Leo’s, also had the added duties of being administrator of St. Edward’s since September.  
Father Carlos A. Ruiz was named pastor of St. Anna Parish, Leominster, effective Feb. 26. He has been serving as administrator of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Winchendon, since Sept. 28, 2018. Father Robert D. Bruso, pastor of St. Cecilia Parish, Leominster, also had the added duties of being administrator of St. Anna since September.
The bishop also named new administrators for two parishes and other changes in the Official on Page 4.
Father David Engo, who came from ministry in the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee, last July to serve as chaplain at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, it to be administrator of St. James Parish, South Grafton, effective immediately.
Father Henry Ramirez, who was associate pastor at St. John, Guardian of Our Lady Parish, Clinton, was named administrator of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Winchendon, effective Feb. 26.

NEW PASTORS

Father Juan G. Herrera

Father Juan G. Herrera was named pastor of St. Edward the Confessor Parish, Westminster, effective Feb. 26.
He was born January 25, 1980 in Medellin, Antioquia, Colombia, son of Luis Alfonso Herrera and Eufrosina Gil.
He entered the seminary program at Seminary Major of Medellin in his native Colombia in 2000, and studied for his bachelor of arts in philosophy at Pontifical Bolivarian University.
He came to the Worcester Diocese in August 2007 to study for the priesthood here, and attended St. John’s Seminary in Brighton.
He was ordained a priest on Dec. 31, 2011 at St. Patrick Parish in Whitinsville, one of the parishes he served as a seminarian.
He became associate pastor of St. Louis Parish in Webster in February 2012, St. John Paul II Parish in Southbridge in July 2014 and St. Leo Parish in Leominster in July 2019.

Father Thien X. Nguyen

Father Thien X. Nguyen is to be pastor of St. Theresa Parish, Blackstone, effective Feb. 21, 2020. He was named administrator there July 1, 2015.
He  was born July 21, 1961, in Saigon City, Vietnam, son of the late Ung Van Nguyen and Vien Thi Nguyen,.
He graduated from Nguyen Trung Truc High School in Saigon City in 1980. Then, at the urging of his mother, who sold everything to pay for his place on a small boat, he left Vietnam, spent a total of seven months in refugee camps in Thailand and the Philippines. His aunt sponsored him to come to New Orleans, where he studied at Loyola University.
With his brother’s help he came to Worcester, earning his bachelor’s degree in math at Assumption College in 1993 and his master’s of divinity from Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston in preparation for priesthood.
He was ordained a priest on June 2, 2001 by Bishop Reilly  in St. Paul Cathedral.
On June 15, 2001 he was named  associate pastor of St. Bernard Parish, Fitchburg, and chaplain at St. Bernard Central Catholic High School. On Aug. 8, 2003 he was named administrator of Immaculate Conception Parish, Fitchburg, and on July 2, 2005, was named pastor.
In 2010 he was named associate pastor at St. Leo Parish, Leominster, while working with the Vietnamese community in Manchester, New Hampshire.
On July 1, 2014, he was named associate pastor at St. Theresa Parish.

Father Juan S. Ramirez

Father Juan S. Ramirez is to be pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Fitchburg, effective immediately. He has been administrator there since July 1, 2017.
Juan Sabastian Ramirez was born Jan. 22, 1984 in Medellin, Colombia, son of Israel Ramirez of Argentina and Carmen Acosta of Colombia.
He attended Santa Elena High School in Medellin, and the University of Antioquia. He got his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from San Pio X Seminary in Istmina, Colombia.
In 2010 he came to the United States to study for the priesthood for the Worcester Diocese. He lived at Holy Name of Jesus House of Studies and studied English at Clark University. He got his bachelor’s in sacred theology and his master’s of divinity at St. Mary’s Seminary & University, Baltimore.
He was ordained to the priesthood on June 20, 2015 by Bishop McManus in St. Paul Cathedral. Following ordination he was assigned as associate pastor of St. John, Guardian of Our Lady Parish in Clinton, beginning Aug. 1, 2015.

Father Carlos A. Ruiz

Father Carlos A. Ruiz was named pastor of St. Anna Parish, Leominster, effective Feb. 26.
Carlos Andres Ruiz, son of Juan C. Ruiz and Maria V. Vasquez, was born Nov. 15, 1987, in Medellin, Colombia.
He studied at Instituto Parroquial Jesus de la Buena Esperanza and got his bachelor’s in philosophy from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Colombia.
He came to the United States in 2011 to study for the priesthood for the Worcester Diocese. He lived at Holy Name of Jesus House of Studies and studied English at Clark University. He got his bachelor’s in sacred theology and master’s of divinity from St. Mary’s Seminary & University, Baltimore.
Bishop McManus ordained him a transitional deacon Dec. 20, 2014. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Worcester by Bishop McManus on June 20, 2015, in St. Paul Cathedral. His first assignment was as associate pastor, Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Leominster, effective Aug. 1, 2015.
He has been serving as administrator of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Winchendon, since Sept. 28, 2018.