Pedro Bismarck Chau

Pedro Bismarck Chau (born June 28, 1967) is a Nicaraguan bishop of the Catholic Church who has been an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Newark since September 2025. He is the first Nicaraguan-born bishop in the US.

Biography Chau was born on July 18, 1967, in Managua, Nicaragua. He is the youngest of seven children born to Camilo Arturo Chau and Luisa Amanda Lainez.

His assignments in the Archdiocese included: parish vicar of Our Lady of Mount Virgin in Garfield from 2008 to 2012; associate director of CYO, and youth and young adult ministry from 2012 to 2015); assistant vocations director from 2012 to 2016; head of university pastoral care at Rutgers University (Newark) and the New Jersey Institute of Technology from 2015 to 2020; parish priest of Saint John and of Saint Patrick's Pro-Cathedral from 2015 to 2020; member of the priest personnel board from 2017 to 2020; and rector of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart from 2020 to 2025.

Pope Leo XIV appointed Chau auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Newark on May 30, 2025. Chau received his episcopal consecration on September 8, 2025, from Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, Archbishop of Newark. As his episcopal motto he chose a phrase from Isaiah 49:5, ("God is My Strength").

Chau has a sister who is deaf and is especially devoted to providing pastoral services to the deaf community. He is fluent in American Sign Language. He has said Mass in sign language since 2008 and was doing so monthly when named a bishop in 2025.