Sacramento Diocese welcomes Coadjutor Bishop Jaime Soto

Published: 2007-11-20

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CNS) -- In a welcoming Mass acknowledging the diversity of the Diocese of Sacramento, Coadjutor Bishop Jaime Soto encouraged his new flock to "hope and hold the kingdom of God, to live reverently in the spirit of welcome and worship, both in sacred space as well as in the public square." About 1,300 invited guests packed the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in downtown Sacramento Nov. 19 for the two-hour bilingual Mass. Some 50 members of Bishop Soto's family were also in attendance. Catholics have "glad tidings" to offer the world that spring from their faith, Bishop Soto said in his homily. "What we offer is also reasonable and beneficial to the common good of all. We come not to impose but to welcome the truth and worship the goodness of God revealed in the human person," he said. "This is a task we are eager to share with men and women of all creeds." Bishop Soto, 51, had been an auxiliary bishop of Orange for more than seven years when he was named Sacramento's coadjutor by the pope Oct. 11. He will automatically succeed Sacramento Bishop William K. Weigand upon his retirement or death.

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