SW News: A priest who has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and was the owner of a Subway franchise has been chosen by the Holy Father to be an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles Archdiocese in the United States. It was 66-year-old Monsignor Albert Bahhuth, the vicar of Holy Family Church in South Pasadena, who was chosen by Pope Francis as one of the four auxiliaries to assist Archbishop Jose Gomez on July 18.

Of Lebanese origin, Mon. Bahhuth was raised in Beirut, the capital of the Middle Eastern nation. He migrated to the United States with his family when he was 20 and pursued chemical engineering at the University of Missouri. He bagged a doctorate in the same subject from the University of Mississippi before teaching at the University of Wyoming.

In 1984, he shifted base to Los Angeles where he was associated with the retail and fast food sectors. It was during that time he owned a franchise of the world-famous American fast food chain that specializes in sandwiches.

Seven years later, he discerned a vocation to the priesthood and joined the St John’s Seminary in Camarillo. He was ordained in 1996 and was given pastoral duties in several parishes. They include St Finbar in Burbank and St Kateri Tekakwitha in Santa Clarita. In 2015, Archbishop Gomez named him Vicar General and moderator of the Curia and he remained in that position until 2020. Since 2021, he has been the parish priest of Holy Family Church.

Mon. Bahhuth expressed his gratitude to his family, the Roman Pontiff and Archbishop Gomez in a statement given to the archdiocesan news portal Angelus. In the statement, the bishop-elect also thanked his parishioners and other priests with whom he was associated all these years.

The bishop-elect said, “I am blessed to be called to be a bishop during this transitional time in the life of the Church, where our Holy Father is calling us to a synodal approach to governing and caring for the people of God, to go out to the peripheries and bring home our brothers and sisters who are searching for the truth and for meaning and purpose to their lives.”

Apart from Monsignor Bahhuth, the pope has also chosen Fr Matthew Elshoff OFM Cap, Fr Brian Nunes and Fr Slawomir Szkredka as the auxiliaries of Los Angeles. While Fr Elshoff, 67, serves as the pastor of St Lawrence of Brindisi Church in the Watts area, 58-year-old Fr Nunes is the Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia. Fr Szkredka, 49, is a professor of Biblical Studies at St John’s Seminary.

Archbishop Gomez said in a July 18 statement that it was a day of joy for the family of God in the archdiocese. “We give thanks to God, and we thank the Holy Father for this great blessing of new bishops. Each is a man of prayer who loves Jesus and has a deep desire to share God’s love and to serve God’s people,” he said. The prelate also entrusted them to the maternal care of the Blessed Virgin Mary.