December 19, 2025
WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito, 75, from the pastoral governance of the Diocese of Palm Beach, and has appointed Reverend Manuel de Jesus Rodriguez, as Bishop-elect of Palm Beach. Father Rodriguez is a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn and currently serves as pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Corona (Queens), New York. The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington, D.C., on December 19, 2025, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.
The following biographical information for Bishop-elect Rodriguez was drawn from preliminary materials provided to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops:
Father Rodriguez was born January 15, 1974, in the Dominican Republic; he became a United States citizen on July 25, 2018.
Father Rodriguez pursued studies at the Pontifical University Madre y Maestra in the Dominican Republic, earning degrees in philosophy (1996) and law (1998), and a degree in education from the Catholic University of Santo Domingo (1997). He received a doctorate in legal studies from the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome (2003), a master’s degree in education from the Instituto Tecnologico de Santo Domingo (2006), and a licentiate in canon law from The Catholic University of America (2016), and a doctorate in canon law from the University of Navarre in Spain (2019).
He was admitted to the Salesians of Don Bosco (a religious order) in 1993 and made his final profession to the Salesians on September 22, 2002. Father Rodriguez was ordained to the priesthood on July 3, 2004, in the Dominican Republic, and was incardinated into the Diocese of Brooklyn in 2012.
Bishop-elect Rodriguez’s assignments after ordination in the Dominican Republic include: director of John Bosco School (2004-2008); director of Sacred Heart of Jesus School in Santo Domingo (2008-2009). His assignments in the Diocese of Brooklyn include: parochial vicar at St. Michael Church in Brooklyn (2009-2011); administrator (2011-2012) and then pastor (2012-2014) at Sts. Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn; administrator (2014) and then pastor at Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Queens (2014-2020). Father Rodriguez has also served as the defender of the bond on the diocesan tribunal since 2017 and has served as pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Corona, Queens since 2020. Bishop-elect Rodriguez speaks English, Spanish, French, and Italian.
