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April
17, 2006
VOL.
44, NO. 8Oakland,
CA
New administrator named to St. Jarlath Parish
Oakland’s
St. Jarlath and St. Elizabeth parishes share a common geographical border
and now they share a unique familial connection – two brothers as
their pastoral leaders. Father Francisco Figueroa is the new parochial
administrator at St. Jarlath while his brother, Franciscan Father Marco
Antonio Figueroa, has just completed a term as pastor of neighboring St.
Elizabeth.
Father Francisco Figueroa said he is “excited” about his new
post, effective May 1, when he takes on the responsibilities of parish
administration for the first time.
Born in Sonora, Mexico, he is the second oldest in a devout Catholic family
of six children. He attended Catholic elementary and second schools run
by the Christian Brothers and for several years was a member of a lay-based
charismatic community of young men and women who followed a simple lifestyle
of prayer and service.
He opened and operated a religious bookstore in San Luis Potosi, Mexico,
in 1980. During that period, while involved in a serious relationship
with a woman, he discovered a deeper attraction to prayer and religious
life.
After he and his girlfriend went their separate ways, he entered the seminary
in Monterrey, Mexico, and later transferred to the seminary in the Diocese
of Cristo Rey, but decided to leave for personal reasons in the 1990s.
He taught at a Catholic school in Obregon for four years and continued
to find himself drawn to religious life. He decided to join his brother,
already an ordained priest, and moved to the Oakland Diocese where he
sought out the diocesan vocations office. After being accepted as a candidate
for the priesthood, he entered St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park
and earned his Master of Divinity degree.
Ordained to the priesthood in 2002, Father Figueroa’s first assignment
was as parochial vicar at St. Michael Parish in Livermore. It was an “excellent
experience,” he said. “Even with my broken English I felt
embraced by the community.”
The priest voiced similar gratitude for parishioners at St. Clement in
Hayward, where he has served as parochial vicar since 2003.
“They are a loving and committed people,” he said of the multicultural
parish.
Although he worked primarily with Latino parishioners, he said he valued
working also with the faculty, staff and students at the elementary school,
and with the Filipino community.
At St. Clement he found a good teacher and role model in Father Vincent
Brylka, the pastor. “I learned a lot from him,” Father Figueroa
said. “He included me in meetings, in the pastoral council, and
other activities. He is a good organizer.”
Father Figueroa said his first priority at St. Jarlath will be to listen
to his new parishioners to understand who they are and where they have
been. Together, he said, they will find out where they want to go in the
future as a parish. Along the way he plans to encourage them to be “actively
involved in the church and use their gifts. I hope we can work together
as a team.”
Father Francisco Figueroa
