Msgr. Rocha celebrated his 43rd year of his Ordination on May 29th. He was born to Mateus Da Rocha Labandeira and Alice Pereira Dinis on July 21, 1943 in Ribeirinha-Angra, Terceira Azores. He entered the Seminary of Angra at the age of 11.

    A few months after his Ordination he went to Dili, East Timor, Indonesia as a missionary for three years. In 1969 he came to the United States and started his priestly life at Sacred Heart Church in Turlock, CA. In 1972 Msgr. and 12 other faithful followers purchased land to  build a new Portuguese Cultural Center. In 1973 a small church was built and in 1981 the Cultural Center became the Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption of the Portuguese.

    Msgr. was assigned to St. Bernard’s on June 1, 1984. Through his vision and dedication to our Parish he headed a major campaign to raise funds that renovated our church in 1988 and again in 1994. In 1996 construction began on the Our Lady of Fatima Ministry Center and was completed in 2000. Our Parish Offices were renovated and enlarged in 2002.

    Recognizing his love for construction, the Bishop has blessed him with the enormous task of building a new church, school and multi-purpose building on 20 acres on the outskirts of Tracy. Our beautiful Holy Family Center is complete, and we look forward to the completion of the rest of the project.

May our Lord bless you, Msgr. Rocha, as you have blessed us.