University of North Carolina at Charlotte (B.A., 1979) Pontifical North American College (1984) Pontifical Gregorian University (S.T.B., 1982; J.C.L., 1984) The Catholic University of America (J.C.D., 1993)
Motto
Caritas Christi urget nos (The love of Christ impels us)
After Jugis returned to North Carolina in 1984, the diocese assigned him as parochial vicar of St. Leo the Great Parish in Winston-Salem. The next year, he was transferred to St. John Neumann Parish in Charlotte. In 1985, Bishop John Francis Donoghue appointed Jugis a judge on the marriage tribunal. [1]
Jugis next worked in North Carolina in the following pastoral assignments:
pastor of Holy Infant Parish in Reidsville from 1993 to 1996
pastor of Queen of the Apostles Parish in Belmont from 1996 to 1997
administrator of Holy Spirit Parish in Denver from 1998 to 1999
pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Monroe from 1999 to 2003[1]
Bishop of Charlotte
On August 1, 2003, John Paul II named Jugis as the fourth bishop of Charlotte. On October 24, 2003, Jugis received his episcopal consecration at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte from Archbishop John Francis Donoghue, with Bishop William Curlin and Bishop Francis Gossman serving as co-consecrators.[1][2]
In 2013, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) criticized Jugis for not warning families in their diocese about Raymond P. Melville, a former Catholic priest who had moved to North Carolina. Melville had previously been accused of sexual abuse in Maine and Maryland.[3][4]
Jugis in 2015 asked for calm among the community at Charlotte Catholic High School after a speech there by Sister Jane Dominic Laurel. Many parents had been upset by Laurel's remarks on single parenthood, LGBTQ people and divorce. At one point, she said that children raised by single parents had a greater chance of becoming gay or lesbian. Jugis also criticize parents for what he termed as disrespectful behavior.[5]
On August 17, 2018, following the release of a Pennsylvania grand jury report on priests with credible accusations of sexual abuse of children, Jugis stated that the Diocese of Charlotte was investigating allegations of sexual abuse by clergy and encouraged Catholics to pray for all sexual abuse victims.[6] On December 30, 2019, he released a list of fourteen priests credibly accused of sexual abuse in the diocese since 1972.[7][8][9] On July 1, 2020, Jugis announced that Reverend Patrick Hoare, the newly-appointed pastor of St. Matthew Parish in Charlotte, was barred from active ministry on the recommendation of the diocese’s Lay Review Board. Hoare's suspension stemmed from an allegation of sexual abuse in Pennsylvania in the 1990s.[10]
Retirement and legacy
Jugis submitted his resignation as bishop of Charlotte to the Vatican in June 2023, citing a chronic kidney condition that prevented him from performing his duties.[11]Pope Francis accepted his resignation on April 9, 2024.[12]
Jugis in 2017 criticized the Trump Administration for its ban on refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries.[14]
In April 2018, Jugis and Bishop Luis R. Zarama of Raleigh issued a joint statement calling for reform of federal immigration laws and affirming the need for compassion and justice towards undocumented immigrants.[15]
In 2006, Jugis reminded his priests that they were only allowed to perform the mandatum, the washing of feet during Holy Thursday, on male parishioners.[19]
In December 2023, Jugis announced that the Vatican had approved the use of the Tridentine mass at four parishes in the diocese for the next two years.[20]