Please join us in welcoming Father Oscar Benavidez to Our Lady of the Rosary. Father Oscar will begin his assignment here on July 8. Father Oscar Benavidez, 52, is originally from the Municipio of San Isidro in the Matagalpa district of Nicaragua. He was ordained in 2009 and has been serving the Church as a priest for 16 years. Shortly after his ordination, he was appointed the first pastor of St. John Vianney Parish, and in 2016 he was appointed adviser to the Diocese of Matagalpa’s Youth Ministry.
In 2017 he was appointed parochial vicar of Sanctuary of Our Lord of Esquipulas. In 2020, Bishop Rolando Álvarez of the Diocese of Matagalpa sent Benavidez on mission to the Diocese of Siuna, a diocese where there are few priests. Benavidez was on mission in a parish in Waslala and in 2022, he was appointed pastor of the Holy Spirit parish in the town of Mulukukú.
During his Masses, Benavidez denounced the injustices committed by the Ortega dictatorship. According to The Voice of America, after celebrating Mass at the Conception of Mary chapel on August 14, 2022, during which he meditated on the persecution of the prophets, he was arrested by police.
He was detained for 8 months along with Father Ramiro Tijerina and then they discovered that they had been exiled to the United States. Arriving in Washington on February 9, 2023, they had to decide where they would go. Father Ramiro had family in Charlotte, and they were graciously received at Saint Matthew’s parish in Charlotte. They made a connection with Bishop Peter Jugis who accepted them and assigned them to the parishes of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Saint Luke and Saint Gabriel.
In 2024 he was assigned as vicar to the parishes of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Saint John Neuman in Charlotte which were his last assignments before being assigned to Our Lady of the Rosary beginning July 8, 2025.