At 34, Father Cesar Jaramillo relishes being a first-time “Fruncle” — a priestly “Father” who’s also an uncle. His smile bursts through the phone as he talks lovingly about his four-month-old niece.
“Emma Sofia Soto is beautiful. She has long, brown hair and deep blue eyes,” said Father Jaramillo, a diocesan priest studying in Rome. He recently spoke on the phone with The Beacon about his niece. “When I look at her, I’m in awe of God’s miracle of life.”
On Nov. 23, Father. Jaramillo exercised one of his spiritual privileges as a “Fruncle” — baptizing Emma Sofia into the Church. He celebrated the Rite of Baptism in the Immaculate Conception Chapel at Seton Hall University (SHU) in South Orange.
Naturally, Emma Sofia’s birth on Aug. 2 gives this Christmas season a deeper meaning for the family. The baptism’s location in the chapel was also significant to Father Jaramillo, and to his sister and the baby’s mother, Laura Soto, 30. They both graduated from SHU, a Catholic university.
Soto recognized that a priest baptizing his niece “doesn’t happen often.”
“It’s important that Cesar, who baptized Emma Sofia, can also help strengthen her faith,” said Soto, who lives with her husband, Cris, in Rockaway. They give Father Jaramillo a sweater that displays the word “Fruncle” to Father Jaramillo when they told him about her pregnancy. “In her journey of faith, Emma Sofia could get distracted. Cesar is so relatable. He can give her a gentle nudge without judgment to guide her back on the path.”
Father Jaramillo and Soto often visited the stately chapel as SHU students for a spiritual boost. They spent time in prayer, particularly during exams. Laura prayed there with Cris while they were dating, strengthening their faith and relationship.
“We never imagined that one day we would return to SHU, me as a priest and Laura as a mother, to celebrate the gift of divine life poured into Emma Sofia’s soul through the sacrament of baptism,” Father Jaramillo said in his homily at the baptism.
At SHU, Father Jaramillo earned a bachelor’s in Catholic Studies from St. Andrew’s College Seminary in 2013. Soto received a six-year master’s degree in occupational therapy there in 2018. Last year, the priest started studying for a doctorate in Canon Law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
During her baptism, Emma Sofia was wide awake. By her side were godparents Lina, 31, Father Jaramillo and Soto’s sister, and Steven, her husband, who live in East Windsor. The priest officiated both of his sisters’ weddings.
Growing up, Father Jaramillo and his family lived in Clifton. Their home parish was St. Anthony of Padua in Passaic. The priest said Emma Sofia gives him an “overwhelming feeling of gratitude” this Christmas season.
“The mystery of the incarnation has a more profound meaning this year,” said Father Jaramillo, ordained a priest in 2017. “Families are challenged to pass on the faith. I planted the seed in Emma Sofia and pray it will flourish. It’s the closest I will feel to having a child.”
With great SHU pride, Father Jaramillo concluded, “I pray that Emma Sofia’s white baptismal garment might one day be complemented by some Pirate blue [the university’s colors].”
