Luis R. Zarama

Luis Zarama was born on November 28, 1958, in Pasto, Nariño, Colombia, the oldest of the six children of Rafael Zarama and Maria Pasqualetto de Zarama.[2] Zarama attended the seminary of Pasto and the Universidad Mariana in Pasto, where he studied philosophy and theology from 1982 to 1987.[3] He began his studies in canon law at the Pontifical Xavierian University in Bogotá in 1987, and earned his licentiate in 1991. In the mid-1980s, while attending seminary, Zarama also taught at local high schools.[2]

Emigrating to the United States in 1989,[4] Zarama was ordained into the priesthood by Archbishop John Donoghue for the Archdiocese of Atlanta on November 27, 1993.[5]

Zarama then served as parochial vicar at Sacred Heart Parish in Atlanta until 1996.[3] From 1996 to 2006, he was administrator of St. Helena Mission in Clayton, Georgia and the first Hispanic pastor of St. Mark Parish in Clarkesville, Georgia.[6] Zarama became an American citizen on July 4, 2000, and said: "I'm happy here, I choose to be here, and I feel like I'm part of the system as a citizen."[7] Within the Court of Appeals of the Ecclesiastical Province of Atlanta, he has been advocate (1993–1997) and defender of the bond (1997–present).[3]

Zarama was named assistant director of the Vocations Office in 2000 and vicar general in 2006.[3] He was also a member of the Committee for Continuing Education of Priests and the Priest Personnel Board. In 2007, Zarama was raised by the Vatican to the rank of chaplain of his holiness.[3] In addition to his duties as vicar general, he became judicial vicar in 2008[8] and served as the archbishop's delegate to North Georgia's Hispanic community.[9]

Coat of Arms as Auxiliary Bishop of Atlanta

On July 27, 2009, Zarama was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Atlanta and titular bishop of Bararus by Pope Benedict XVI.[5] He received his episcopal consecration on September 29, 2009, from then Archbishop Wilton Gregory at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Atlanta. Zarama remained the vicar general and judicial vicar for the archdiocese.[10]

Zarama presided over the Sunday mass and gave the homily at the Steubenville Atlanta Youth Conference in 2016.[11][12]

On July 5, 2017, Pope Francis appointed Zarama as bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh. He was installed on August 29, 2017, at Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral in Raleigh.[13] He is the first Hispanic and Latino bishop of the Diocese of Raleigh, the first bishop of Raleigh to have been born outside the United States, and the first Colombian-born bishop to lead a Catholic diocese in the United States.[14][15]

On September 5, 2017, Zarama issued a statement in response to U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), calling for comprehensive immigration reform.[16]

On August 13, 2018, Zarama responded to the resignation of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who sexually abused minors. Zarama stated that he would be praying for the church, for church leadership to be renewed and transformed, and for courage to take the necessary steps to end clerical abuse.[17] He also shared a statement made by Archbishop Gregory.[18] Zarama made another statement on August 17, 2018, regarding the sexual abuse scandal in Pennsylvania, calling the revelations "sad" and "shameful". He voiced his support for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' goals to investigate, report, and resolve recent accounts of sexual abuse and for the Church to do so with higher level involvement of the laity. He asked for Catholics to continue to pray for all victims of abuse, stating that they are the Church's priority.[19]

On February 8, 2019, Zarama released a statement supporting Fr. Christopher VanHeight of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Durham barring City Councilors Vernetta Alston and Jillian Johnson from speaking at a Black History Month event at Immaculata Catholic School due to Alston and Johnson being LGBTQ women who openly support same-sex marriage.[20][21]

On March 12, 2020, Zarama officially waived the obligation to attend Sunday mass throughout the diocese during the COVID-19 pandemic.[22] On March 14, 2020, Zarama cancelled all weekend masses in the diocese until further notice and directed all Catholic schools in the diocese to comply with Governor Roy Cooper's executive order to close all schools in North Carolina for a minimum of two weeks.[23][24] On 16 March, Zarama officially suspended all masses, weekday and weekend, throughout the diocese.[25]

In October 2021, Zarama responded to the apostolic letter Traditionis custodes, regarding continued use of rites established before the Second Vatican Council, issued by Pope Francis.[26] In a letter to the diocese, Zarama announced his restrictions on the Tridentine Mass, reducing the number of Latin masses celebrated and moving the permitted Sunday masses in Latin to later in the day, prohibiting them before 1:00 PM.[26] His ruling established one Latin mass from being offered monthly on Wednesday evenings, removing five weekly weekday masses and one Saturday mass. Zarama continued to allow additional Latin masses at Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral and the Basilica Shrine of St. Mary.[26] He stipulated that the Epistle and Gospel readings during mass can continue to be read in Latin, but the English translations provided must be from the Ordo Lectionum Missae or the 2011 revised edition of the New American Bible.[26] Zarama decreed that "only priests who have received faculties" from him are permitted to celebrate the Latin mass.[26] His ruling went into effect on January 1, 2022.[26]