Meet the last bishop appointed by John XXIII, aged 103

Bishop José de Jesús Sahagún de la Parra seems to have broken all records: 103 years of life, 79 as a priest and 64 as a bishop. The bishop emeritus of Ciudad Lázaro Cárdenas, a port city in Michoacán, southern Mexico, he’s officially the oldest Catholic bishop in the world. Ordained a priest in 1946, Bishop Sahagún de la Parra was later appointed bishop of the Diocese of Tula by none other than Pope St. John XXIII!

He’s the last bishop ordained by the “Good Pope” who is still alive. A witness to the history of the Church, the prelate even attended all the sessions of the Second Vatican Council between 1962 and 1965. Only four of the nearly 2,500 bishops who participated in the last Council are still alive today, including — in addition to Bishop Sahagún de la Parra — Archbishop Victorinus Youn Kong-hi, Cardinal Francis Arinze, and Bishop Daniel Alphonse Omer Verstraete (all emeritus).

Bishop Sahagún de la Parra, discreet throughout his episcopal life, worked tirelessly behind the scenes when his newly created Diocese of Tula had few faithful. His role in the development of this diocese has earned him the title of “great builder.”

José Antonio Fernández Hurtado, current archbishop of Tlalnepantla is a former seminarian of the Diocese of Tula. He says that by ordering the construction of churches and structuring a network of parishes, Bishop Sahagún de la Parra succeeded in laying a solid foundation for the spiritual and administrative growth of his diocese, which today has some 50 parishes. Under his episcopate, vocations were born and a major seminary was created to remedy a certain aridity in evangelization.

Bishop Sahagún de la Parra has also been involved in various social justice projects. He  has fostered and financed the construction of small houses so that the poorest inhabitants can live in dignified conditions, according to the Catholic News Agency.

But what characterizes Bishop Sahagún de la Parra above all is his love for the Eucharist: Every day, despite his advanced age, he celebrates Mass in the nursing home where he lives.

Faithful to the discretion he has shown throughout his life, he doesn’t give interviews, but “celebrates the Eucharist every day,” as the diocesan sisters of Our Lady of the Angels explained to ACI Prensa.

“This is one of the reasons he stays strong and joyful,” the sisters added. “He has invited us to live with joy, to be generous in our lives, to live in peace, and to always ask God for his strength."