ORANGE — The Rev. Peter Naranjo’s path to his new parish here led him from a troubled youth in New York and New Hampshire, to an early life of addiction, then a rescue by the Mormon faith and eventually a return to the Catholic Church, which ordained him into the priesthood late in life.
His surname is the Spanish word for “orange.”
But he doesn’t think his appointment to serve St. Mary’s Catholic Parish in Orange four years after his ordination happened by chance.
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” he says. “I really believe that I was supposed to be here.”
Naranjo, 56, replaces the Rev. Jose Bermudez, who has taken a six-month sabbatical.
Born in Long Island to a Spanish immigrant father, Naranjo moved with his family to southern New Hampshire when he was 14. He was born Catholic but never practiced the faith. He describes his younger self as a “troubled kid” who began using marijuana and alcohol by age 10 or 11 and became addicted to cocaine and other drugs as a teenager. Naranjo says his prayers to God for guidance led him to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormon church). He served as a Mormon high priest for 17 years before learning about the Eucharist, which he credits with bringing him back to the Catholic Church.
Naranjo then studied philosophy and theology at Holy Apostles in Cromwell, Conn., and Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston. His first assignment as a seminarian was at St. Mary’s of the Assumption in Dedham.
The Mormon priesthood is made up of lay clergy, and Naranjo paid the bills through a variety of jobs, including as a consultant in the software industry and a play-by-play sportscaster covering Minor League and Atlantic League baseball for an ESPN affiliate in Boston and southern New Hampshire.
“I was a juvenile delinquent. I was not a good kid. I was a troublemaker and (drugs) just seemed like what I should be doing as a troublemaker, I guess,” he says. “I know what it’s like to wake up behind a dumpster. I know what it’s like to suffer from cocaine psychosis. I’ve lived it.
“There are doctors who do great work helping people but, for them, (addiction) is just something they read about,” Naranjo adds, stressing that he takes full responsibility for his choices as a younger man. “I think I made wrong decisions, but God has let me learn from those wrong decisions in a way that I can help other people.”
Church member Maureen Riendeau said Naranjo is a great fit for the parish.
“He is anxious to get involved in the church and the community, and is promising to learn all he can about the parish and the plans and hopes of the parishioners as he becomes more familiar with the area,” she says. “His sermons are educational as he explains the Scriptures, and he is a warm and welcoming presence.”
Naranjo, who can be reached at Fr.pete@icloud.com, says he looks forward to working closely with the youth ministry and other sectors of the community.
He spent the past four years in Pittsfield, where he served at Sacred Heart Church and as a campus minister and chaplain at St. Joseph’s Central High School.
He arrived in Orange on Aug. 8. He says Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski of the Diocese of Springfield has appointed to him an interim position in Orange, though Naranjo says it will likely become permanent.