For Bishop Mario Dorsonville, his vocation as a priest was all about bringing Christ to people, in the Eucharist, by sharing Christ’s love with those he met, and by encouraging people to see the face of Christ in others and to reflect the face of Christ to others by loving and serving those in need. And he emphasized that those in need included not only the poor and immigrants, but also family members, friends and neighbors in need of love and forgiveness.

Bishop Dorsonville, a native of Colombia who served for more than 25 years as a priest and then an auxiliary bishop of Washington and who was installed in March 2023 as the bishop of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana, died unexpectedly on Jan. 19 at the age of 63 from health complications related to liver disease discovered late last year.

The next day, Washington Auxiliary Bishop Juan Esposito expressed sorrow at the loss of “our former auxiliary and admired and good friend to all who knew him.” He added, “Those who were touched by Bishop Dorsonville came to know what a special soul he is… His friendliness, cordial smile and gracious kindness warmed the hearts of everyone who encountered him.”

Bishop Dorsonville’s beaming smile and ready laugh reflected what Pope Francis called “the joy of the Gospel.” When he was appointed to lead that Louisiana diocese, he joked that he had heard that alligators liked to come out of the swamp and take in the sun outside his new office at the diocesan headquarters, and he laughed as he added, “If anyone knows how to avoid alligators, please let me know!”

But on a serious note, he spoke about being open to wherever God might send him.

“You learn from Mary to be open and to say ‘yes’ all the time, even though it might be hard to leave the people you love, you know the Lord wants you to go to the place where they need you,” Bishop Dorsonville said.

And at a farewell Mass of Thanksgiving before leaving Washington, the bishop spoke about the importance of closing chapters in one’s life and moving on to the next chapter. “The book gets better, and that’s extremely important to realize,” he said.

As an immigrant himself and as a priest, Bishop Dorsonville knew the challenge of leaving the ones you love, and the challenge of learning a new language and culture in a new country. After being ordained to the priesthood in Colombia in 1985 and serving as a parish priest and as a high school and university chaplain there, he came to Washington in the 1990s and earned a doctorate in ministry at The Catholic University of America.

After returning to Colombia and serving as a university chaplain and as a university and seminary professor there, then-Father Dorsonville came back to the Washington area, serving as a parochial vicar at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Bethesda from 1997-2004. After being incardinated as a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington in 1999, he later served as a parochial vicar at St. Mark the Evangelist Parish in Hyattsville, as the director of the archdiocese’s Spanish Catholic Center, as an adjunct professor at the Saint John Paul II Seminary in Washington, and as the vice president of mission of the archdiocese’s Catholic Charities. Then in 2015, Pope Francis named him as an auxiliary bishop of Washington, where he served until his appointment to lead the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux last year.

In a 2001 article, then-Father Dorsonville explained that his life at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish centered on bringing the sacraments to people. His father was a civil engineer, and the priest saw his role as a bridge builder, helping to unite the parish’s English and Spanish speaking communities, and “to love them as Jesus does.”

He said the Hispanic community there was a diverse group that included people from many different countries, ranging from international bankers and diplomats to restaurant workers and housekeepers, people with many differences united in their Catholic faith.

Later in 2010 when he was leading the Spanish Catholic Center, then-Father Dorsonville spoke about how he witnessed God’s grace there every day. For the immigrants who walked in the doors there seeking medical or dental care, employment training or immigration counseling, the Spanish Catholic Center was a place of hope. To the priest, who saw how clients would come there and experience God’s love for them, the center was holy ground.

Later as a bishop, he served as the chairman of the Committee on Migration for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He spoke at Masses about the importance of seeing migrants and refugees as people created with God-given human dignity seeking a better life for themselves and their children, and he testified before Congress urging legislators to work together to pass immigration reform and to provide educational opportunities and a pathway to citizenship for “Dreamers” whose parents brought them to the United States when they were young.

For Bishop Dorsonville, that advocacy was all about seeing Christ in others, and bringing Christ to others. 

He also lived that message by venturing out one Sunday a month with a group of Catholic young adults to bring supplies like food and sleeping bags to the homeless in Washington, and more importantly, treating them as friends, learning their names and praying with them.

Photos of then-Father Dorsonville giving Communion to a girl at Our Lady of Lourdes in 2001 and as a bishop smiling and giving Communion to a woman religious at his farewell Mass in the Archdiocese of Washington last year, showed his dedication to bringing Christ to others.

In that 2001 interview, he said that for Catholics, every vocation was all about “realizing that God needs you to take Him to others.”

Related story: Funeral arrangements for late Bishop Dorsonville announced