CHARLOTTE — Father Juan Miguel Sanchez is leaving his role at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Winston-Salem to serve as priest-secretary for the Diocese of Charlotte’s incoming bishop.
SanchezBishop Peter Jugis has announced that Father Sanchez’s appointment is effective Monday, May 20.
Bishop-elect Martin will be ordained and installed as the fifth Bishop of Charlotte at the end of May. As priest-secretary, Father Sanchez will assist the new bishop in his day-to-day activities, working with him and accompanying him on visits to parishes, schools and Catholic institutions throughout the diocese. He will maintain an office in the Chancery at the Diocesan Pastoral Center.
Father Sanchez has served as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mercy Parish and Our Lady of Fatima Mission in Winston-Salem since July 2023. Ordained in 2021, he has also served as parochial vicar of St. Matthew Parish in Charlotte and as assistant chaplain at Charlotte Catholic High School.
A native of Mexico, Father Sanchez’s earliest years were spent on a small-town farm before moving with his parents and siblings to the city of Guadalajara. He came to the United States at 20 and went to work in construction with his older brothers. Despite his lack of a high school diploma, he was encouraged by Father Julio Dominguez, the diocese’s Vicar of Hispanic Ministry, to pursue his studies. He earned his high school equivalency diploma before entering priestly formation at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Ohio. He then joined a select number of the diocese’s seminarians chosen to study theology at the Pontifical North American College in Rome before being ordained to the priesthood by Charlotte Bishop Peter Jugis in 2021.
— Catholic News Herald