July 28, 2019, Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
NEW BISHOP
The Diocese of Gallup would like to congratulate the new Bishop of Las Cruces, Bishop Peter Baldacchino.
Bishop Baldacchino was born in Silema, Malta. The Archdiocese of Malta is an apostolic see, meaning that it was established by one of the apostles. He attended local Catholic schools for his elementary and secondary education. He studied chemistry, at the University of Malta where he earned a diploma in sciences and worked as Technical Manager for several years at the Canada Dry bottling plant on Malta.
He was ordained a priest on May 25, 1996. He served for 18 years as a priest for the Archdiocese of Newark. Recognized by Pope Benedict XVI for his missionary work in building the only Catholic parish community and its church he received the title of Reverend Monsignor in 2009.
On February 20, 2014, Pope Francis named the then Msgr. Peter Baldacchino as auxiliary bishop of Miami. On May 15, 2019 Pope Francis named Bishop Peter Baldacchino as the bishop of the Diocese of Las Cruces.
Bishop’s Baldacchino coat of arms is Ubi Dominus Ibidem Laetitia, which translates to “Where God is, there is Joy.” This is taken from Judith 15:10 which references the joy of Israel and Psalm 67:4, which refers to being joyful in the presence of God.
-Fr. Keller
(Excerpt taken from Bishop’s Program)
