Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory has appointed Auxiliary Bishop Juan Esposito-Garcia as Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington. The appointment was announced Feb. 27 and is effective immediately.
“In this role, Bishop Esposito will assist me in overseeing the offices and ministries of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center,” Cardinal Gregory said in a statement announcing the appointment. “I am deeply grateful to Bishop Esposito for his willingness to serve our archdiocese in these capacities and look forward to our collaboration.
Bishop Esposito was born Jan. 10, 1974, in San Luis, Argentina, and ordained to the priesthood for The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington on June 14, 2008.
He and Auxiliary Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala were ordained as auxiliary bishops of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington during a Feb. 21 Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle.
After obtaining a law degree at the Catholic University of Cuyo in San Luis, Argentina, Bishop Esposito came to the United States, where he completed his ecclesiastical studies and earned a master of divinity and a master of arts in Moral Theology from Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
He holds both a licentiate and a doctorate in Canon Law from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
Bishop Esposito’s assignments in The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington have included positions as parochial vicar at the Shrine of St. Jude in Rockville, Maryland, parochial vicar at St. Mark the Evangelist Parish in Hyattsville, Maryland, and parochial vicar at the Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda, Maryland, and as pro tem parish administrator at Ascension Catholic Church in Bowie, Maryland.
He also was adjunct professor of canon law and assistant spiritual director at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary.
Bishop Esposito also served in archdiocesan roles in the Metropolitan Tribunal, on the Seminary Admission Committee, as an instructor for the Marriage Preparation Program and as a member of the Committee for the Archdiocesan Synod. From 2018 until his appointment by Pope Francis to become an auxiliary bishop for Washington, Bishop Esposito served as an official in the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops.
He speaks English, Spanish and Italian.
He is thought to be the first native of Argentina named to be a bishop in the United States. He was named a Chaplain of His Holiness, with the title of monsignor, in 2020.
