Juan Miguel Betancourt

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Juan Miguel Betancourt, S.E.M.V. (born June 1, 1970, in Ponce, Puerto Rico) is an American prelate of the Catholic Church who has been serving as auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Hartford in Connecticut since 2018.

Biography

Early life

Juan Miguel Betancourt was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico on June 1, 1970, to Miguel and Gloria Betancourt. He is the oldest of three children. Betancourt joined the Society of the Servants of the Eucharist and Mary on January 1, 1992, and took perpetual vows to the order on August 6, 2000.[1]

Betancourt graduated with a Bachelor of Natural Sciences degree from the University of Puerto Rico and received a Master of Divinity degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce.[1]

Priesthood

On April 21, 2001, Betancourt was ordained a priest in Puerto Rico by Bishop Iñaki Mallona Txertudi for the Servants of the Eucharist and Mary[2](Esclavos de la Eucaristia y de Maria Virgen). Following his ordination, Betancourt went to Rome to study at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, earning a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture in 2005. After returning to Puerto Rico, he taught at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico and the Regina Cleri Major Seminary, both in Ponce, for one year.[1]

In 2006, Betancourt was assigned by his order to be the pastor of St. Francis de Sales Parish in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota. He also served as a professor of sacred scripture at the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul, Minnesota and as a vice rector of formation and associate academic dean from 2006 until 2018. He taught undergraduate theology at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota from 2006 through 2009.[1]

Episcopacy

On September 18, 2018, Pope Francis appointed Betancourt as titular bishop of Curzola and auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford.[3][4][5] He was consecrated on October 18, 2018, at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford by Archbishop Leonard Blair, with Archbishop Timothy Broglio and Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens as co-consecrators.[1][2]

Betancourt serves on the Committee on Doctrine, the Clergy, the Consecrated Life and Vocations Committee, and the Subcommittee on Divine Worship in Spanish for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He is also the Chair of the Subcommittee on the Translation of Scripture for the Conference.[6]

In January 2026, he accepted the appointment to serve as the USCCB Bishop Liaison for the next Synod on Synodality[6] and is the Chair of the USCCB Synod Implementation and Evaluation Task Force. The Synod will take place during the Vatican assembly in October 2028.

Betancourt has been a member of the Trinity Health of New England Board of Directors since 2019.

References

  1. 1.[1.2][1.3][1.4][1.5]Hartford, Archdiocese of. "Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt, SEMV". Archdiocese of Hartford. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  2. 2.[2.2]"Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt Torres [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  3. 3."Nomina dell'Ausiliare di Hartford (USA)" (in Italian). Press Office of the Holy See. 2018-09-18. Retrieved 2018-09-18.
  4. 4."Pope Francis Names Rev. Juan Miguel Betancourt, S.E.M.V., as Auxiliary Bishop of Hartford". Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  5. 5."Pope Names Fr. Juan Miguel Betancourt Torres Auxiliary Bishop for Archdiocese of Hartford". Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  6. 6.[6.2]"Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt, SEMV – Archdiocese of Hartford". Retrieved 2026-05-01.