Bishop Emeritus, Mgr Guy Sansaricq, died in New York

The Bishop Emeritus was to preside, this Saturday, August 21, at Saint John Divine Cathedral in New York, an ecumenical ceremony in solidarity with the Haitian population victim of the earthquake of August 14. He passed away today

Saturday, August 21, 2021 ((rezonodwes.com)) – Mgr Guy Sansaricq, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn / New York since August 2006 passed away this Saturday.

The ill-health prelate was fighting diseases of age, according to reports. Bishop Guy Sansaricq (86) is renowned as an emblematic figure and ardent defender of the rights of Haitian immigrants in the United States of America. His past is linked to the Vespers of Jeremiah, perpetrated under the bloodthirsty dictatorship of Duvalier in August 1964. A large part of his family was murdered on this occasion.

A key figure in the rights of undocumented Haitians in the United States, Bishop Sansaricq is also recognized for his commitment to the fight against the dictatorship in Haiti.

He died 57 years after the massacre of Jeremiah and 15 years after his enthronement as Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn.

Bishop Guy Sansaricq was born in Jérémie, Haiti, into a Catholic family. He attended the seminary of the Diocese of Jeremiah for five years, then received a scholarship to the Pontifical Seminary of Saint Paul in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, where he studied philosophy and theology for seven years.

Born October 6, 1934, he was ordained a priest in 1960 in the cathedral of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Sansaricq’s first assignment was at Les Cayes Cathedral where he was trained as a chaplain for Haitian immigrants to the Bahamas, ministering from the Benedictine priory of St. Francis in Nassau.

During his seven years there, he became aware of the plight of immigrants, and in particular undocumented immigrants. When he completed his work in the Bahamas, he received a scholarship to study social sciences at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he obtained a master’s degree in 1971.

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 this time, he was appointed diocesan coordinator of the Haitian apostolate. In 1987, he was chosen by the American bishops to lead the Haitian National Apostolate. In 1993, he was appointed pastor of St. Jerome’s Church in Flatbush, Brooklyn, where he continued to minister. He was named Prelate of Honor by Pope John Paul II in 1999.

Retirement

In 2009, when Bishop Sansaricq reached the retirement age of 75, he submitted his letter of resignation to the Congregation for Bishops. Pope Benedict XVI will accept it at will. His age-induced resignation was formally accepted on October 6, 2010, Bishop Sansaricq’s 76th birthday. Although he is retired, he remains very active in the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Herve Noel

[email protected]