This year promises to be a big one for Fr. Edgar Suarez, CSV. After reaching 25 years as a Viatorian in December, he now will celebrate 20 years of priesthood in June. But that’s just the beginning.
Fr. Edgar Suarez
June also marks another beginning. Fr. Suarez, a native of Bogotá, will be moving to Arlington Heights, where he will be studying English at nearby Dominican University while living in community with his Viatorian confreres. His relocation to this country is in preparation for his newest assignment, as pastor of St. Viator Catholic Community in Las Vegas beginning July 1, 2025.
“This will be a great challenge for me mainly because of the language, the culture and the new pastoral model, but I assume it with great hope and excitement,” Fr. Suarez says. “Trusting in Divine Providence, and with the help of my Viatorian brothers and associates, and in the closeness and patience of the laity of the parish community, I am full of hope.”
Currently, Fr. Suarez served as pastor of San Viator Parish in Bogotá for the last three years, where he literally built the church — with the help of its more than 1,000 families — from the ground up. After eight years of fundraising and waiting for building permits from the city, he and his congregation celebrated their first liturgy in their new church on Easter Sunday in 2021. He gave up the pastorate in January and is finishing up his term as legal representative of the Viatorian Community in Colombia.
However, Fr. Suarez brings even more experience to his newest parish. All of his 20 years as a priest have been spent in parish ministry, initially as parochial vicar at St. Basil the Great and then as pastor, and later as parish administrator in Santa Inés de Guaymaral, both in Bogotá.
Fr. Suarez, second from right, currently serves on the Provincial Council.
His first five years as a Viatorian were spent in education, as a religion teacher, chaplain and head of the pastoral team, all at Colegio San Viator in Bogotá.
Over the next year, Fr. Suarez will visit St. Viator Parish during some of the major holy seasons, like Christmas and Easter. This time of transition will help him integrate himself into the parish and get to know its ministries and culture. He also will have meetings with Fr. Richard Rinn, CSV, its current pastor, to learn more about the parish’s administration, finances and pastoral care.
“In my new assignment at St. Viator Parish and School, my vision as an educator and priest are intertwined to form an environment of learning and spiritual growth,” Fr. Suarez says. “From my administrative and teaching experience, as well as in the management of leadership processes, I am excited to contribute to this new experience.”