Born, educated, and ordained a Roman Catholic priest in the Philippines, Oscar A. Solis came to the United States in 1984. He first worked as an associate pastor in Newark, New Jersey, where he was embraced by his parish as “one of their own.” As Solis recalled in an interview, “I could really say and admit that I experienced the spirit of America — to welcome strangers and to be given opportunity in order to grow, and to contribute to our society.” He later served as associate pastor and pastor in parishes in Louisiana (1993–2003). His next assignment took him to Los Angeles, where, in 2004, he became the first Filipino American bishop ordained in the U.S. His archdiocesan assignments included his roles as auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Los Angeles, vicar for ethnic ministry, and director of the Office of Justice and Peace (2004–2009). In 2017, Solis was named the 10th bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City, which comprises the entire state of Utah and is home to over 300,000 Catholics, 48 churches, 20 missions, 3 chapels, 5 stations, 3 Newman Centers, a monastery, the Cathedral of the Madeleine, and 16 Catholic schools.
“Immigration is an important ministry to the church,” says Solis, “because part of our Catholic tradition involves welcoming the stranger. From Old Testament times on, you welcomed the stranger, you opened your house to the stranger.” As bishop, he has worked to support immigrants and other marginalized communities while vigorously advocating for immigration reform. In a 2018 op-ed for the Salt Lake Tribune, he stated his case: “We need an effective and humane immigration system that promotes the unity of families and provides young people with a path to citizenship.… If we believe in freedom, let all Americans, whether they were born here or brought here as young children, be free to live, work and study in this country that they made their home.… The Statue of Liberty still stands majestically today, reminding us of our identity as a beacon of hope to the downtrodden who come to our shores. I pray that we recapture the true and noble identity of this great country, the land of plenty, of opportunity and of the free.”
Twitter: @BpOSolis
