AURORA—Father Ernesto Odilio Caicedo Ortega, a priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart will begin service as pastor of St. Therese of Jesus Parish on Feb. 1.

 

He was born in Sapuyes Nariño, Colombia, South America, on May 4, 1981, to Luis Edwardo Caicedo (who died in 2002) and Lupe Lucina Ortega. 

 

He attended the Sapuyes Nariño grammar school and graduated at the Sebastian Belalcazar Nationalized High School.

 

In 2004, he entered the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. 

 

He received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at the Minuto de Dios University in Bogota in 2008. From August 2008 to the following year, he did his novitiate in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. 

 

He took his first religious vows on Aug. 8, 2009, and studied theology at the Javeriana Pontificial University of Bogota from 2009 to 2013.

 

He made his perpetual vows in the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart on Aug. 4, 2012, was ordained a deacon in the Fontibon Cathedral on Dec. 1, 2012. He was ordained to the priesthood on July 13, 2013.  

 

Father Caicedo served at St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Parish in Bogota, first as a deacon and continuing after his ordination as a priest. 

 

In January 2014, he was transferred to work as pastor at Jesucristo Obrero Parish in Bogota. During those years, he also worked as chaplain for the Maria Auxiliadora School and the San Jose Superior Education Foundation.

 

Father Caicedo came to the United States in January 2017.  He has studied English in Chicago and Aurora and has been assisting with ministry in various parishes.