CHARLOTTE — The Diocese of Charlotte announced that longtime Bishop Peter J. Jugis, 67, is retiring due to health limitations, and that Pope Francis has appointed Father Michael T. Martin, OFM Conv., of Atlanta, as his successor to lead the growing diocese. Read more.
Friends, family and faithful react to Bishop-Elect Martin’s assignment in Charlotte diocese:
From Norma Casal Buckley, parishioner at St. Philip Benizi, Jonesboro, Ga., where Father Martin has served as pastor since 2022:
“What a lucky diocese you are! The Diocese of Charlotte is getting a great leader who will do a great job! We will miss him at St. Philip Benizi but are happy for you.
"As a parishioner at St. Philip Benizi in Jonesboro, Father Mike’s homilies are my favorite things. He really can connect with everyone – I’ve seen him speaking to young people, old people, the Hispanic community.
"We’ve got a diverse parish and he gives great messages that everyone can relate to – his homilies always give me a lot to relate to and think about.
“Father Martin is very focused on leading people to be apostolic. By this, he means we should act like the first apostles did in their evangelization. They were very in tune with the Holy Spirit, and I feel like Father Martin is very in tune, too. He believes that the Holy Spirit is real, and we can do great things if we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us.”
From Jeremy Joseph, current principal of Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore, where then Father Martin also served in various roles from 1994 to 2010:
“I first met Father Martin as a rising junior at Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore and got to know him for the next two years when I was the student government president, and years later he was principal and hired me to be the admissions director there. As principal he was a visionary and was able to move the institution forward, and I learned a lot from him on the way, from prayers and spirituality to how to run a school, have an impact on students and families and focus on the mission of the institution.
“Your diocese is very blessed to have him – he’s so gifted and I’m glad the Church recognizes his administrative and ministerial abilities. He tries to motivate the people around him to be the best they can be, and he’s a top-rate homilist. I think people are going to respond well to him as a bishop – he will help many people grow closer to Christ.”
From Jeanne Martin, Bishop-Elect Martin’s oldest sister:
“When I got the news that my brother was becoming a bishop, I was shocked but not surprised. It’s not surprising when you know what he’s accomplished in all his years as a priest and consider the impact he has had on so many people – family, friends, and acquaintances who are now friends. He has a very real impact – both with individuals and at parishes where you can see his impact in successful capital campaigns and growing parish attendance.
“He has tremendous leadership skills. He can be a first-line manager and move all the chess pieces that need to be moved in a job like being a bishop. From the spiritual side, he has an ability to connect with people of all kinds and ages, while also staying true to the Church’s teachings. He’s also a phenomenal homilist!
“There was always something very kind about him when he was a child, and when he told our parents at the age of 17 that he was going into the Franciscan order, they were shocked but not surprised – just like I am not surprised that my brother has become a bishop. He told me about it a few days ago, but this morning I got to gather the grandchildren and the nieces and nephews and let them know that some really big news was coming out about Uncle Michael.”
From Andy Pfeiffer, local Charlotte businessman and former student of Bishop-Elect Martin:
“I met Father Mike at St. Francis High School in Buffalo, N.Y., when I was 16. He taught morality, literally and figuratively, which I still think about 30 years later. He is a master at distilling large spiritual and moral issues into simple, everyday, bite-sized pieces of applicable wisdom, which I know he used at Duke with some of the brightest college minds. He has led multiple Catholic schools, churches and initiatives that required the help of many others. If you speak to anyone who has worked for him, they will all tell you they were better because of it. He is an amazing teacher, a gifted orator, and I have no doubt that he will inject an energy into the Church that will inspire us all. Trust me when I say Charlotte is very lucky to have Father Mike!”
From Darien Clark, director of Campus and Young Adult Ministry in the Diocese of Charlotte:
“It is a joy to welcome Bishop-Elect Mike Martin to the Diocese of Charlotte. He energized the Catholic Campus Ministry at Duke University during his 12-year tenure there. Bishop-Elect Martin is frequently called on by the Catholic Campus Ministry Association (CCMA) to offer professional development workshops for campus ministers regionally and nationally, including a professional development day for the campus ministry staff here in Charlotte in February 2022. As the Bishop-Elect said during his introductory press conference, ministry with college students is invigorating and a point of hope for the Church. Campus ministry in this diocese has a bright future under his leadership, and I look forward to working with him to spread the good news of Jesus Christ on the college campuses we serve.”
From Michelle Sutton, Duke University alumna who met Bishop-Elect Martin as a sophomore and worked with Bishop-Elect Martin for 11 years at the Duke Catholic Center:
“He was one of the best homilists I've ever heard and very good at business in terms of running the campus ministry and being able to raise money, but at the heart of it is his relational ministry with students and helping people get close to Christ. It was how he saw everything that we were doing and what guided all of our decision-making in terms of what we're doing at Duke. It was one of the reasons I stayed working for the Duke Catholic Center for as long as I did – just to be able to work alongside him.
“He started ‘Confessions on the Quad at Duke.’ It would be a Wednesday or Thursday afternoon and with this sign we made, and he parked himself in the residential quad with two chairs. He just wanted to be with the students and to meet them where they were.”
From David Cutcliffe, former head football coach at Duke University:
“He is extremely bright, smart and intellectual while also being down to earth. What he did at Duke was unquestionably hard. The Duke Catholic Center was totally revitalized with Father Mike Martin, and then he's just been a great friend. He was our go-to spiritually for my wife and myself. We developed a good friendship. He worked out in our football facility and was over there all the time, he did chapel services with our team, and he traveled with us when he could to away games and played a significant role in our football program at Duke.
“One particular Sunday at church, I was feeling a little bit defeated, and I think he sensed that I was down. I'm going to even use the phrase ‘feeling sorry for myself.’ The team would always have a light workout on a Sunday afternoon or evening, and he would often come over and just watch. I'll never forget this day when he came up to chat. He said, ‘How are you doing?’ I said, ‘Well, I mean, this is hard.’ He said, ‘Well, what do you mean hard?’ I said, ‘It’s just getting hard.’ And he said, ‘No, wait a minute, it's about these kids. It’s about who you serve.’ And man, I needed to hear that. We all need to hear the truth, and he was right. I would tell that to any young coach or priest for that matter. It’s not about you; it's about them.
“During the pandemic, I was impressed with his grit and determination to find a way to serve the congregation and those students. He would have Mass in a parking deck at Duke every Sunday. Some Sundays were freezing and other were hot, but he and his staff set it up for Mass every week. That will always be one of my fondest memories of my time at Duke.”
From Jason Simon, president, The Evangelical Catholic, a ministry group based in Madison, Wis. that Bishop-Elect Martin has worked with over the years:
“Father Mike is a great leader – great at having a vision and listening to people. He also can be humble and has a real ability to relate to people. His students and staff at Duke University all loved him.
“I first Father Mike in 2011 when I met with him at Duke to discuss his goals for campus ministry there. I run an organization, Evangelical Catholic Network, that helps equip parishes and campus ministries to prepare parishioners and college students for evangelization in the world. Then I met with him again when we started working with his parish in Atlanta. I remember that while we were meeting, he received a phone call from a parishioner whose wife had just gone into the hospital, and it was serious. Father Mike put our meeting on hold and counseled that guy for several minutes. He has a lot of compassion and pastoral concern. That one incident is evidence that he has a great mix of leadership gifts and administrative gifts, and he also cares deeply for people and takes for time for them.”
From Larry Furey, founder and senior partner of Partners in Mission, a Catholic consulting firm:
“Pope Francis has made a magnificent decision. Father Martin walks the walk and talks the talk. He’s down to earth, he’s personable and a great listener, and he truly embodies all that a priest should embody and now will embody everything that a bishop should be.
“Father Martin and I have been friends for 25 years, ever since we met getting on a flight in Baltimore to fly to the National Catholic Educational Association conference. I run a consulting firm that helps Catholic schools with things like recruiting new leadership, enrollment management and advancement. He has been a member of my team for the past five years doing consulting, board development, and serving as a keynote speaker at a lot of our events.
“He has a great sense of humor, he’s a phenomenal speaker and he is passionate about Catholic education, which will be a priority for him in his new role along with other ministries. Father Martin is going to be a great shepherd for the Diocese of Charlotte. He has no airs about him, he’s gracious and down to earth. Everything he does, he does with passion, grace and humility.”
From Father Michael Heine, O.F.M. Conv., Bishop-Elect Martin’s religious superior:
“I’ve known Michael Martin since 1983 when we were in seminary together at St. Hyacinth College in Massachusetts. We were big into sports. It was a small college and so we had a lot of intramural sports clubs. He and I even started a basketball tournament for the eight worst basketball teams in the Diocese of Springfield because we felt those kids would never get to a tournament, so that was our crowning attraction there. He was the editor of the newspaper there, the ‘Hylite.’ He's a great communicator and smart guy.
“They recognized that and sent him to Rome for four years and so we had little contact and when he came back, he was assigned to St. Francis High School where I was assigned as counselor, for 13 years. He was great with kids, very dedicated to Catholic education, and had great ideas and understanding of the mission for Catholic education. The school grew tremendously under him. Then I went to Jamaica as a missionary and he went to Duke, but he would always bring groups to Jamaica to work with the poor. He wanted to expose the kids to experiences they'd never had.
“He has a heart for the poor. I know he wanted to really work with the St. Vincent de Paul Society he mentioned during the press conference. He also mentioned reaching out to those who are marginalized. Like, St. Francis, he realizes where he came from. Francis’ father was rich and so he had a lot of money, but was willing to give it to the poor. Michael didn't grow up with a lot of money. His family was blue-collar, working class, and I think he always kept in mind the values that his mom and dad taught him: to work hard and reach out to those who don't have what he has.
“He has a good sense of humor and doesn't take himself seriously. But I will tell you, he's very honest and he will tell you like it is. The people of the diocese are getting a friar who's going to love them, and that's the important part. He wants to see those entrusted to him really be the best disciples they can be.”
From Patricia Morton, former chair of the board of directors of the Duke Catholic Center:
“When Father Mike arrived at Duke Catholic Center, a lot of the pieces had been put into place, but he was like a whirlwind. The growth of the ministry just exploded during his tenure. He is someone who can talk to any age group, any diverse audience, young or old. He just has the ability to understand the audience that he's addressing and to make it so personal to their experience. I think that it was so fortunate because particularly on the university campus, kids are really going through a lot, growing up, setting value systems for themselves, trying to understand what their long-term aspirations are. I saw him really transform young people. It was this kind of a partnership. It wasn't like he came in and here are all the answers. It was really mentoring and being a sounding board for them to find their way. Through that and his work at the Duke Catholic Center, he became a figure on campus that I think even non-Catholics would approach because he's so open and so charismatic.”
From Mike Salvino, St. Matthew parishioner and former board member of Duke Catholic Center whose wife Denise is currently serving on the board:
“Father Mike makes everyone around him better, and I saw that not only with his staff at Duke but in the board meetings, in the Masses, and with the students. Our oldest son Matthew started attending Duke in 2016. He talked to Father Mike when he was a freshman, and for the guy that's in charge of the thing to spend time with him and all the kids meant so much. As you get into college, one of the things that people may not realize is that it takes 18 months for these kids to find their people, so they think they're a little different, they think that maybe this isn't perfect for them. Father Mike was great because he basically was like, ‘No, you're normal. That's what everybody goes through.’ He's always accessible. What was amazing to me was after I hugged him following the press conference, the first thing he asked about was Matthew, and I said, ‘Father Mike, it’s not about Matthew today, it's about you. I couldn't be happier for you.’
“He's a person of the people, a builder and a visionary. He's not afraid to try new things. At Duke he created small groups in which seniors and juniors who knew the way would help the freshmen and sophomores. He also brought nuns to campus – he thought there needed to be a motherly presence. He also brought the Eucharist into the Duke chapel, which isn’t focused on any one denomination. I think it always bothered him that the Eucharist didn’t have a home there, so he found one.”
From Kerri Massey, president and CEO of Holy Angels, where Bishop-elect Martin visited on his first day visiting the diocese:
"Holy Angels is deeply honored to have had Bishop-Elect Michael Martin grace us with his presence on his very first day. His visit, alongside Monsignor Patrick Winslow, was a testament to their genuine care and commitment to our mission of serving those who are differently able. It was a Mercy Moment watching Bishop-Elect Martin truly connect with some of our residents. We extend our heartfelt gratitude for their visit and will pray for Bishop-Elect Martin in his new role leading the diocese.”
Words of thanks and gratitude to Bishop Jugis for his decades of ministry:
From Father Benjamin Roberts, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Monroe, and chair of the diocese’s Presbyteral Council (a group of priests that advise the bishop) since 2018:
“There are all the great accomplishments in Bishop Jugis’ work and ministry in the Diocese of Charlotte, with new parishes and schools and growing the faithful, but his legacy is far more personal for me. Bishop Jugis was the one who accepted me into the seminary, he ordained me, and now I serve at the last parish that called him pastor. It has been an honor to work with him, and his focus on Jesus and leading people to Jesus is something that will last forever in the diocese.
“As we welcome Bishop-Elect Martin, it is a great gift of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, to provide us with such a joyful and passionate shepherd to lead our diocese. I’ve heard from fellow priests who have served with him remark what a deeply caring man he is. He has a great love for the Lord and His people. During his welcome at the press conference, I was particularly moved by his comment, ‘I have only one answer: Jesus. Jesus is the answer.’ What a beautiful reminder that Jesus is the continuity. On behalf of the priests, I wish to welcome out new shepherd Bishop-Elect Martin to the Diocese of Charlotte. We look forward to receiving the gift of the apostolic ministry he brings to us.”
“How incredibly fortunate we have been to have such a good and holy man as Bishop Jugis in the Diocese of Charlotte for these last 20 years. We will pray for and embrace Bishop-Elect Martin as he steps into his new role. May God bless both of these men and the ever-growing Diocese of Charlotte.”
— Chris Ferguson, Facebook post
“Best wishes to our Bishop Peter Jugis, and welcome to our new bishop! Exciting times for our diocese and ministries!”
— Antonio Garcia, Facebook post
“Thank you, Bishop Jugis, for your steadfast devotion and service to the Diocese of Charlotte all these years. We were with you when you first began, and even though we have since moved back to Texas, we have kept you and our beloved Charlotte in our prayers. So much spiritual growth and the beginning of our family happened under your care. Our prayers are with you and the new Bishop-Elect Martin.”
— Denise Tristan Abele, Facebook post
Read more:
Diocese welcomes bishop-elect at press conference
First day: Bishop-elect greeted by smiles as he travels the region
Fun facts with Bishop-Elect Martin