Body of Queens-Brooklyn priest killed by COVID-19 returns to native Mexico

A priest from the Brooklyn Diocese blesses the casket carrying Ridgewood and Bushwick priest Jorge Ortiz-Garay to JFK Airport, where he will be flown back to his native Mexico. Photo by Rob Rich via Brooklyn Diocese

By Victoria Merlino

A Queens and Brooklyn priest believed to be the first Catholic clergyman killed by the coronavirus has begun his final journey to his native Mexico, the Diocese of Brooklyn said Tuesday.

Father Jorge Ortiz-Garay, who was the pastor of St. Brigid’s Roman Catholic Church on the border of Ridgewood and Bushwick, died on March 27 at the age of 49. The casket carrying his body is in transit to Mexico, where Ortiz-Garay was born, and is expected to arrive in Mexico City today for a final burial. 

Ortiz-Garay’s death devastated parishioners in his Brooklyn and Queens congregation, The New York Times reported shortly after his death. 

Ortiz-Garay was ordained as a priest in 2004, and has been serving the Diocese of Brooklyn, which oversees all Queens Catholic churches and institutions, since 2009. He joined St. Brigid’s in 2014. 

“Today is Good Shepherd Sunday, and we sent home a good shepherd to Mexico, a son of Our Lady of Guadalupe,” said Monsignor Kieran Harrington, vicar for communications of the Brooklyn Diocese. 

“We pray for the repose of his soul and for the consolation of his family, friends, and all those to whom he ministered to in the Diocese of Brooklyn. May he rest in the peace of Christ, the Risen Lord,” Harrington said.

A memorial mass for Ortiz-Garay will be held on an as-of-yet undetermined date.