Youngest Bishop in the U.S. — a New Yorker Who Raps! — Initially Ignored Vatican Before Picking Up 6th Call
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CBS/YouTube Bishop Joseph A. Espaillat
Joseph Espaillat didn't immediately answer the call that would change his life forever.
In March, Espaillat, 45, made history when he became the youngest Roman Catholic bishop in the United States. However, while speaking with Today on Thursday, the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New York shared that he didn't leap to answer that important call from the Vatican.
"Four times, this call from Washington, D.C. And I was just like, 'I'm not picking this up. I don't owe anybody money,' " he jokingly told the outlet.
While being ordained on March 1, Espaillat shared he only picked up until the sixth call.
"I, too, would like to publicly apologize because he called me six times and I thought I owed him money. And when I said, 'Is this a joke?' in his French accent he goes, 'No, it is not a joke!' " he said of the official he spoke with, according to CBS New York.
In addition to being the country's youngest bishop, Espaillat — known as Father J — is the first Dominican bishop in the New York Archdiocese.
"It's a nod to the people of color, of minority, in saying, we see you. And you are important," he told Today of his appointment, which was announced in January.
Espaillat, who hails from New York City, said he began using rap as a way to help deliver his message while he was still working as a parish priest.
"There was a talent show at this parish, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, and a couple of the young boys wanted to rap, but you know these secular songs and they had a lot of bad words in them," he recalled during his interview with Al Roker.
"And I said, 'I bet you money, I could come up with a rap song' ... and they were like, 'Oh no, Father, you can't rap,' and I was like, 'Watch,' " he added.
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After receiving his bachelor's degree in philosophy from Fordham University in 1998, he went on to pursue ecclesiastical studies, getting his masters from Saint Joseph's Seminary & College in 2003, according to a press release from the Vatican.
Later that year, he was ordained to the priesthood.
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Since then, the Bronx-based bishop has held numerous positions in New York and he also has a podcast and YouTube series called "Sainthood in the City," per CBS New York.
In another nod to his modern approach to Catholicism, a recent video posted on his Instagram account shows the bishop dressed casually, wearing a sweatshirt over his clerical collar.
"As they say in the 'hood, it's a new day. Let's get it," Espaillat told CBS New York.
