2010 Guest Speaker: Bishop Jaime Soto

Bishop Jaime Soto was born in Inglewood, California on December 31, 1955. His family moved to Stanton, California in 1956, where he attended Saint Polycarp Elementary School. He graduated from Saint John's Seminary in Camarillo, California in 1982 with a Masters of Divinity. He was ordained on June 12, 1982 for the Diocese of Orange.
Fr. Soto served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Joseph Parish in Santa Ana, California, from June 1982 to July 1984. From 1984 to 1986 he attended Columbia University School of Social Work in New York City where he received a Masters in Social
Work in May of 1986.
Fr. Soto returned to the Diocese of Orange and was the Associate Director of Catholic Charities of Orange in July of 1986. In December of 1986, he became the Director of the Immigration and Citizenship Services at Catholic Charities and
was involved with the implementation of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.
In 1989, he was appointed as Episcopal Vicar for the Hispanic Community by the Most Reverend Norman F. McFarland, Bishop of Orange. He was given the title of Monsignor in 1990 when he was named a Prelate of Honor by his Holiness, Pope John Paul II. While continuing to work as the Episcopal Vicar for the Hispanic Community, Msgr. Soto was appointed as Vicar for Charities in 1999 by the Most Reverend Tod D. Brown, Bishop of Orange.
On March 23, 2000, Msgr. Soto was named the Titular Bishop of Segia and the Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Orange by his Holiness, Pope John Paul II. His Episcopal Ordination took place on May 31, 2000, the Feast of the Visitation.
On October 11, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Jaime Soto as Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento. Bishop Soto was welcomed into the diocese on November 19, 2007. On November 29, 2008, his Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI accepted the retirement of Bishop William K. Weigand. Bishop Jaime Soto automatically succeeded and became the Ninth Bishop of the Diocese of Sacramento.