Fr. Barrera is the new administrator of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish

Intermountain Catholic

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Father José Fidel Barrera-Cruz

SALT LAKE CITY – Father José Fidel Barrera-Cruz has been appointed as the administrator of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Salt Lake City.

Fr. Barrera was born and raised in El Salvador; he has been serving in the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City since 2008.

His first assignment in Utah was at Saint Therese of the Child Jesus Parish in Midvale, where he served from 2008 to 2009. Then he returned to El Salvador for two years. After coming back to Utah, he was assigned to Saint Rose of Lima Parish in Layton. In August of 2011 he transferred to Christ the King Parish in Cedar City as parochial vicar.

Fr. Barrera said that he really enjoys serving in Utah because, besides having found a very loving and caring community, he has also found that the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City, offers a lot of support for all the ministries.

"I love to be here, and Bishop Wester supports us very much," he said. "God always has plans for us and they are manifested through our bishop."

In his current assignment, Fr. Barrera has been working hard with the Our Lady of Guadalupe community since April.

"When I was notified about my new assignment I thought, ‘What am I going to tell the community that I was serving?’" said Fr. Barrera, referring to the fact that the community in Cedar City and the surrounding missions had become like a family to him.

"It was a small community but we shared a lot of moments together," said Fr. Barrera.

After his arrival in Salt Lake City, he said, he was pleasantly surprised to discover a very big and stable community with a lot of service from the parishioners.

"The community welcomed me and it has been great to see all the work that has been done at Our Lady of Guadalupe by prior priests. The community has a big heart filled with spirituality and Christianity," said Fr. Barrera.

He sees his challenges will be to continue the legacy of service and hard work with this community.

"We have always to keep learning and working so when we face a challenge we are all prepared for it," he said .

"I am very happy here. Let’s keep the good work and the joy, happiness, hope and faith because there is still a lot to do," said Fr. Barrera. "Live our faith, celebrate the Gospel in harmony and peace, and let’s work with unity. God moves the hearts that we have so we can have that strength to help all our community members."