Father Augusto Berrio, SJ, a Colombia-born Jesuit who served in Jesuit parishes in San Diego, Santa Barbara and Hollywood, died in Los Angeles on December 31, 2024. He was 92 years of age and had been a Jesuit for 76 years.
Fr. Berrio was born December 14, 1932, in the city of Bello, entered the Jesuit novitiate in 1948 and was ordained a priest in Bogotá in 1963. In his earlier years, he was primarily engaged in social ministry as coordinator or director of several social outreach programs of the Jesuit Province of Colombia and the National Bishops Conference of Colombia, serving both urban poor and campesinos. He also served as pastor of two urban parishes.
Fr. Berrio came to California in 1987 at age 55 after a long career in his native Colombia to serve Spanish-speaking communities in Southern California. He was associate pastor at Christ the King Church in San Diego (1987-1992) and at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, also in San Diego (1992-2009). He served as senior priest at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Santa Barbara, California (2009-2015), and continued his pastoral ministry at Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood (2015-2021). In his final years he helped out as needed in parishes of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.