Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt, SEMV

Born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, in 1970, Bishop Betancourt is the son of Miguel and Gloria Betancourt. He is a member of the Society of the Servants of the Eucharist and Mary (Esclavos de la Eucaristia y de Maria Virgen), which he joined after graduation from college. He has served as Vicar General of the community.

Bishop Betancourt was ordained a priest on April 21, 2001. At the time of his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop of Hartford, he was serving on the faculty of The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul, Minnesota, as Vice Rector of Formation, Associate Academic Dean and Assistant Professor of Sacred Scripture, and as the Pastor of the Church of St. Francis de Sales of St. Paul in St. Paul, Minnesota.

He is a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico with a Bachelor in Natural Sciences, and received a Master of Divinity degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce. Following his priestly ordination, he earned a Licentiate (S.S.L.) in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. Fluent in English, Spanish and Italian, he has proficiency in other languages as well.

Bishop Betancourt has served on the Presbyteral Council of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and as a Board member of the National Conference for Seminarians in Hispanic Ministry. His professional experience also includes teaching at the University of St. Thomas and in the Diaconate Program for the Archdiocese of St. Paul Minneapolis, and at the major seminary, Regina Cleri and the Pontifical University in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

He was appointed by Pope Francis as Auxiliary Bishop of Hartford on September 18, 2018, and was ordained as bishop on October 18, 2018 by the Most Reverend Leonard P. Blair in the Cathedral of St. Joseph, Hartford.

Bishop Betancourt has chosen as his motto “Ecce Agnus Dei,” which translates, “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:29.36). Like his patron, Saint John the Baptist, Bishop Betancourt hears the call to point to and direct everyone to Christ’s heart full of love and mercy as he endeavors to configure himself more to the Lamb of God.