Peter Joseph Jugis

Peter Joseph Jugis (born March 3, 1957) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who was the bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte in North Carolina from 2003 to 2024.

Early life and education
Peter Jugis was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on March 3, 1957. He was baptized at St. Ann's Catholic Church in Charlotte in 1957 by Reverend Michael J. Begley. Jugis attended South Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, graduating in 1975.

Jugis enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1979. After deciding to enter the priesthood, Jugis went to Rome in 1979 to reside at the Pontifical North American College. He was awarded a Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1982.

Ordination and ministry
On June 12, 1983, Jugis was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Charlotte by Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. He received a Licentiate of Canon Law from the Gregorian University in 1984.

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.

In 1987, Jugis began studying part time at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. while serving as parochial vicar at Sacred Heart Parish in Salisbury, North Carolina. In July 1991, Donoghue appointed him as judicial vicar of the diocese and parochial vicar at St. Leo the Great. Jugis received his Doctor of Canon Law degree from Catholic University in 1993.

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

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.

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.

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.

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. On December 30, 2019, he released a list of fourteen priests credibly accused of sexual abuse in the diocese since 1972. 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.

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. Pope Francis accepted his resignation on April 9, 2024.

Abortion rights
During the 2004 U.S. presidential election, Jugis said that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights for women should be denied communion unless they publicly recant their views.

Immigration
Jugis in 2017 criticized the Trump Administration for its ban on refugees from seven Muslim-majority countries.

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.

LGBTQ rights
In 2009, Jugis endorsed an amendment to the North Carolina Constitution that banned same sex marriage. On April 23, 2015, Jugis banned New Ways Ministry co-founder Sister Jeannine Gramick from speaking at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Charlotte. A diocese spokesperson said they cancelled Gramick's appearance because she opposed Catholic teachings on human sexuality.

Liturgy
In 2005, following the publication of the Missale Romanum, editio typica tertia, its subsequent English translation, the accompanying General Instruction of the Roman Missal, and the publication instruction Redemptionis Sacramentum, Jugis issued liturgical norms for the diocese.

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.

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.