Pastor Assignments: Father Oscar Martin Picos Rentería

Friday, Jul. 18, 2025

Father Oscar Picos Rentería was born in Matzatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico. He began his seminary training in Obregon, Sonora, Mexico, then transferred to Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon, where he earned a Master of Divinity. He was ordained a priest on May 18, 2006 in the Cathedral of the Madeleine by the Most Rev. George H. Niederauer, eighth Bishop of Salt Lake City.

His first assignment as a priest was as parochial vicar of Christ the King Parish in Cedar City. After three years there, he became parochial vicar of Saint Joseph Parish in Ogden. His first assignment as pastor was in Saint George, where he served nine years. He then was appointed to his current assignment as pastor of Saint Mary Parish in West Haven. 

Beginning Aug. 1, he will become pastor of Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish in Hyde Park along with the Saint Jerome Newman Center in Logan.

In addition to his pastoral assignments, Fr. Picos has served as chaplain of the Renovaction Carismatica and a three-year term as Dean of the Southwestern Deanery.

He is not entirely new to the St. Thomas community because he ministered there in 2003 when he was a seminarian, but the parish has undergone many changes since then; in particular, a new church was built in Hyde Park, and the community is larger, he said.

He is approaching his new assignment as a clean slate for both himself and his parishioners, he said, explaining that he plans to arrive at his new assignment without expectations, because otherwise, “it will shut down my openness.”

He would like his new parishioners to wait to meet him before they form their opinions. “They need to see me,” he said, and when they do, “I hope that they will see someone who is there to help.”

There is one thing he would like them to know beforehand, however, which is “that I am going there because that’s what God wants, and that I am saying ‘yes’ to God, which means that I am going to do whatever I need to do to help them,” he said.

He also hopes to bring with him a lesson he learned from the late Monsignor Michael Winterer while serving as parochial vicar in Cedar City. In his first week there, “I noticed that the community had the spirituality of the pastor,” he said. “That was an important experience for me.”

He would like to do the same in Hyde Park. As a parish priest he draws his spirituality primarily from the Gospels rather than from the charism of any religious order, but he is influenced by Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Saint John of the Cross, he said.

In addition, family is important in his life. He found it in the faith community at St. Mary’s, “and also in St. George and in Cedar City … especially with Msgr. Mike,” and hopes he will find it at St. Thomas as well, he said.

Since receiving news of his assignment to St. Thomas, he has been praying for his parishioners, he said, both that “they are going to be able to welcome me,” and also, “I’m asking God to be able to love them.”

The activities he enjoys in his leisure time have changed over the years, he said. When he was in Cedar City he would often go walking in the mountains and take photos of nature, but these days he prefers to spend his free time visiting with his fellow priests. For example, he has plans to host a dinner for 12 priests soon.

“We’re going to say bye-bye to those who are moving to a different deanery, and saying welcome to those that are coming to this deanery,” he said.