Bishop Guy Sansaricq
Guy Sansaricq (born October 6, 1934) was born in Jérémie, Haiti, into a Catholic family. 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.
His first assignment was to the Cathedral of Les Cayes, was instructed to become a chaplain for Haitian immigrants in 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 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 US 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 Prelate of Honour by Pope John Paul II in 1999. He was appointed ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn in 2006 and Titular Bishop of Glenndálocha.
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, 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 for Progress, a service agency.
In 2009 when Bishop Sansaricq reached the retirement age of 75, he handed his letter of resignation to the Congregation for Bishops. Pope Benedict XVI will accept it at his pleasure. His age induced resignation was formally accepted on 6 October 2010, Bishop Sansaricq’s 76th birthday.