Vocations: Two priests are now permanent members of the Diocese of Salt Lake City’s presbyterate

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Fr. Rafael Murillo-Ventura

SALT LAKE CITY — Two priests who have been serving in the Diocese of Salt Lake City, Father Rafael Murillo-Ventura and Father Sébastien Sasa Nganomo Babisayone, will be incardinated into the diocese effective Nov. 1.

Both priests came to Utah from other countries. Each now has been given permission by their bishop to be incardinated into this diocese, which means that from now on they will be under the direction of Bishop Oscar A. Solis and his successors.

Theologically, incardination “underscores the close, permanent association of bishops, presbyters and deacons in the Church’s ordained ministry and hierarchical structure,” said Father Kenneth Vialpando, vicar for clergy, quoting a United States Conference of Catholic Bishops article, “Protocol for the Incardination or Excardination of Deacons.”

In letters to the two priests informing them of their incardination, Bishop Oscar A. Solis wrote, “During your time here, you have earned the respect and admiration of both your brother priests and the laity you have served.” He also noted that the diocese’s College of Consultors “unanimously recommended my proposal for your incardination.”

Fr. Murillo was granted permission to be incardinated into the diocese by Bishop José Elías Rauda Gutiérrez, OFM of the Diocese of San Vincente, El Salvador.

Born and raised in El Salvador, Fr. Murillo entered the seminary when he was 18 years old and was ordained a priest on Dec. 14, 1996 in his hometown by the Most Reverend Monsignor Jose Oscar Barahona Castillo, of the Diocese of San Vicente, El Salvador. His first priestly assignment was in Tilobasco Cabañas, El Salvador. After that, he went to Rome to complete a higher degree in theological studies at the Gregorian Pontifical University; he holds a licencia (the equivalent of a master’s degree) in theology.

After finishing his studies, Fr. Murillo spent a short time in the Archdiocese of Baltimore before returning to El Salvador.

He was invited to apply to minister in the Diocese of Salt Lake City by fellow El Salvadoran priests who were serving here. He was accepted and, after arriving here in 2013, began to serve as temporary parochial vicar at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Kearns. Following that were assignments at St. Elizabeth Parish in Richfield, then Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish in Carbon County. In 2019 he began serving as administrator of St. Marguerite Parish in Tooele, the position that he currently holds.

“Since I came here, I have been feeling very much comfortable with people, my fellow priests and the bishop; they have been for me great friends and support,” Fr. Murillo said. “I appreciate everything that they do for me, and I am very grateful [to] Bishop Oscar.”

Being incardinated in the Diocese of Salt Lake City makes sense because the diocese is like his home, he said. “Also to share my ministry here, where I think [Utah Catholics] need us. I hope my ministry here can be a blessing for them and for me.”  

Father Sasa was inspired to be a priest by his childhood pastor, Father Antoine Wawa, he said.

“One day, I said to my father Sébastien and my mother Viviane: ‘I would like to do and live like Father Antoine Wawa,’” he said. “With the help and spiritual advice of Fathers Wawa Antoine and Kinzanza Célestin, from the age of 9 until high school, I understood that God was calling me to serve Jesus and his Church.”

Fr. Sasa was ordained a priest for his hometown diocese in Mbujimayi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Nov. 30, 1997. He attended the Catholic University of the Congo in Kinshasa, the Theological Institute of Kintambo, and then went on to the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome. He holds bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and theology, a master’s degree in public administration (from Guglielmo Marconi University-Rome), and a doctoral degree in missiology.

He arrived in the Diocese of Salt Lake City in 2017. Previous to his current assignment as administrator of Saints Peter and Paul Parish in West Valley City, he served in the parishes of St. Joseph in Ogden, St. Ambrose in Salt Lake City and St. George in St. George.

“My experience in the Diocese of Salt Lake City has been excellent,” he said. “I can only thank God for all his blessings. Since I arrived in the diocese on March 27, 2017, as a ‘Fidei Donum’ priest, (a priest who is sent by his bishop to serve in a diocese with a shortage of priests), I immediately felt like part of the family. Bishop Oscar Solis received us very well and always accompanied us with his fatherly love.”

Fr. Sasa has been granted permission to be incardinated here by Bishop Bernard Emmanuel Kasanda Mulenga of the Diocese of Mbujimayi, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“I chose incardination for two reasons,” Fr Sasa said. First was that, with the closure of the Secular Institute Saint John the Baptist in the Diocese of Mbujimayi, “the bishop asked us to choose a diocese where we can serve as priests,” he said.

“The second is the lack of priests, priestly vocations and the need, the urgency to announce the Good News here in Utah,” he said. “I thought that with my missionary and missiological skills, my pastoral experience in Africa, in Europe could be useful for my ministry here in the United States of America.”

“Having Fr. Murillo and Fr. Sasa, plus many other priests who have been incardinated in our diocese, strengthens our presbyterate, parishes and diocese as a whole, mainly because these priests who come from various dioceses around the world bring many gifts to the table, the altar of the Lord, with their strong faith, rich culture and bilingual or multi-lingual skills, which definitely complements the ministries, gifts and talents of the native priests who were born and raised in Utah or who were incardinated in our diocese at their ordination,” Fr. Vialpando said.  

The incardination of these two priests is “not only a blessing for them and their families, but for all of us in the diocese who greatly appreciate their priesthood,” Fr. Vialpando added.