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December 22, 2022Rev. Randall de Jesus Soto, STD (Doctor of Sacred Theology), Ph.D (Cand.) priest of the Archdiocese of New York and professor of Sacred Scripture at Saint Joseph’s Seminary and College, Dunwoodie, New York, was born on February 19, 1966 in San José, Costa Rica. He proudly became an American Citizen in November 2017.
The son of the late Adele Chaves and Miguel Soto, Fr. Soto is survived by his siblings: Miguel Soto and his wife Alicia Castro; Mónica Fernández and her husband Luis Álvares; Kattia Soto; Victor Soto; Jonathan Soto; and his nephews and nieces: Miguel Antonio Soto; Alejandro Soto; Edgardo Anzoátegui; Mariana Álvarez, Maria Del Pilar Álvarez and Luis Andrés Álvarez.
After being raised in Costa Rica and, for a brief time in Connecticut, Fr. Soto responded to the Lord’s call to the priesthood and earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Seminario Central of San José. An exceptional student, Fr. Soto was sent to complete his priestly formation at Saint Joseph’s Seminary and College, Dunwoodie.
Fr. Soto was ordained to the priesthood in August 1991 by Archbishop Román Arrieta Villalobos and began parish ministry first as a parochial vicar and then as a pastor in his home archdiocese. In 1994, Fr. Soto was assigned to biblical studies, first at the Catholic University of America in
Washington, D.C. and then at the Pontifical Biblical Institute and the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he completed his Licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL) in 1996. Fr. Soto earned his Doctorate in Sacred Theology (STD) in 2003 at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
From 1996-2002, Fr. Soto served as a professor at the Universidad Católica of Costa Rica and the Seminario Central de San José, Costa Rica (1996-2000 and 2003-2004); as Director of Faith Enculturation and Censor Librorum in the Archdiocese of San José (2003-2004). In 2004, Fr. Soto was invited to serve in the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana and he taught at Rensselaer College in the Permanent Diaconate Program of Lafayette-in-Indiana (2004-2006).
In 2006, Fr. Soto joined the formation faculty at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in Saint Louis, where he served as a formation advisor in the external forum and a professor of Biblical Theology and New Testament Languages. While at Kenrick-Glennon, Fr. Soto assisted as a professor of New Testament at the Instituto Ciencias Religiosas in Toledo, Spain (2010-2011) and as Professor of Dogmatic Theology and Sacred Scripture for the on-line program of Holy Apostles Seminary, CT (2007-2022).
Fr. Soto joined the formation faculty of the Pontifical North American College, Vatican City-State in 2017 as a spiritual director and as the Carl J. Peter Chair of Homiletics. At the Pontifical North American College, Fr. Soto also served as an adjunct spiritual director of the Casa Santa Maria. In his time in Rome, Fr. Soto taught as an adjunct associate professor of theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. While in Rome as a faculty member of the Pontifical North American College, Fr. Soto was well on his way to completing a second doctorate (Ph.D) at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in spiritual theology.
In 2022, Fr. Soto was incardinated into the presbyterate of the Archdiocese of New York by Timothy Cardinal Dolan and began an assignment as a spiritual director and a professor of Sacred Scripture at Saint Joseph’s Seminary, (Dunwoodie) Yonkers, where he himself had received his priestly formation. Fr. Soto was a regular weekend assistant at the parish of Immaculate Conception and Assumption of Our Lady in Tuckahoe, New York.
Fr. Soto passed away on December 21, 2022, in New York and the arrangements for his funeral are
as follows:Tuesday, December 27
5 PM – Reception of the Body
5 – 7:15 PM – Casket Open for Visitation
7:30 PM – Mass of Jesus Christ the High Priest,
Bishop James Massa, Celebrant
Msgr. Mark Huber, Homilist
9 PM – The casket will be closed, and all will depart.
Wednesday, December 28
8:30 AM – Casket Open for Visitation
10 AM – Mass of Christian Burial,
Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Celebrant,
Fr. Sorgie, Homilist
Following Mass, Interment at St. Raymond’s Cemetery, Bronx, NY.
Recorded Masses
Tuesday, December 27
Mass of Jesus Christ the High Priest
Mass Booklet
Wednesday, December 28
Mass of Christian Burial
Mass Booklet
