Atlantic County Hispanic community upset over priest's impending departure

HAMMONTON, N.J. - Abel Espinoza said he used to "practically beg" his children to go to church. Now they beg him to take them.

The Egg Harbor Township resident credits their newfound enthusiasm for St. Nicholas Church to one man, the Rev. Armando Rodriguez Montoya, who arrived from Mexico a little more than a year ago to serve the growing Hispanic community in Atlantic County.

"People are just drawn to Father Armando," said Noemi Cruz. "All ages understand his teachings."

So it came as a shock to Espinoza, Cruz, and others to learn that their beloved priest, who was due to remain for months more, has been abruptly told to return to his home parish in Chihuahua, Mexico, next month.

The bishop in Chihuahua wants him back early, officials at the Camden Diocese told them. That puzzles Rodriguez Montoya because he said he had heard no such thing from the bishop there.

Among local parishioners, there are suspicions their 43-year-old priest has simply fallen afoul of less-popular colleagues.

Congregants contend their pleas have been ignored by the Camden Diocese, which controls placement of clergy in the region. There has been a cascade of protests, including an outcry so loud during Sunday Mass last weekend at St. Mary's Church in Hammonton that police were called. A vigil is planned for Saturday afternoon at the diocesan offices in Camden.

"They do not listen to us . . . they do not hear what we are trying to tell them about what we need as a community," said Laura Rios, a young mother from Hammonton who said she would attend the vigil.

Rios belongs to St. Mary of Mount Carmel Parish, which was formed in 2010 by consolidating St. Anthony of Padua, St. Joseph's Parish, and St. Martin De Porres. Rodriguez Montoya preaches at St. Mary's and at St. Nicholas in Egg Harbor City.

"With all the negative things going on with the church right now that are turning people away, the diocese should be happy to see they have a priest right here that brings people together to worship," said Kathy Garcia, a trustee of St. Nicholas.

Garcia said Rodriguez Montoya had brought together a diverse community that includes a newcomer population of Mexican-born migrant workers and their children, Puerto Ricans who have lived in the region for generations, Peruvians and Colombians who are longtime church members, and other Hispanics.