The Low Desert Vicariate community rejoiced on Sept. 5 when Bishop Alberto Rojas installed Father Juan Lopez as the pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish in Indio. The parish community gathered in thanksgiving to see the familiar Fr. Lopez, who has served as the parish’s administrator since October 2023, installed as pastor. Fr. Lopez will serve as the parish pastor for a term of six years until June 30, 2032. Prior to serving in Indio, Fr. Lopez served briefly as Parochial Vicar at St. Catherine of Alexandria, Temecula in 2022. A pastor is a priest who, under the authority of the diocesan bishop, exercises the pastoral care of a parish by carrying out the functions of teaching, sanctifying and governing.
The Indio parish also welcomed Bishop Rojas earlier this summer for a Mass in honor of the parish installing a replica of the Cristo Negro on August 21. The Mass was to recognize that the church now holds a replica of the Cristo Negro (Black Christ) crucifix, Maria Madre de Dios (Mary, Mother of God), Maria Magdalena (Mary Magdalene) y Juan el discipulo (John the Disciple) from the Basilica del Cristo Negro in Esquipulas, Guatemala. The history of the image of the Lord of Esquipulas is well known in Central America. The wooden crucifix, known as the Cristo Negro, was commissioned in 1594 for a church in Esquipulas. The Mass, presided by Bishop Rojas, was followed by a procession of the replicas and images from the church into the hall. Once in the hall, Bishop Rojas blessed the replicas and images with holy water. In honor of these replicas being added, the OLPH has renamed its parish hall as Cristo Negro Hall.