DENVER — Over the past 14 years, Archbishop Samuel Aquila has led the Archdiocese of Denver. Appointed to lead the archdiocese in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI, Aquila — who at 75 has reached the customary retirement age for prelates — now prepares to hand the role over to Bishop James Golka, who will be installed as the archdiocese’s new leader on March 25.
During his time in Denver, Aquila has been an outspoken figure — commenting boldly on topics such as abortion and immigration policies — and a faithful leader who has worked diligently in Catholic schools, among the youth, and in the state’s seminary alongside its future priests.
Ordained a priest in 1976 in the Archdiocese of Denver, Aquila has had a front-row seat to the growth the Church has seen there and the fruit it is bearing.
Reflecting on the time he has spent in the archdiocese, Aquila told EWTN News in an exclusive sit-down interview that he looks back with “deep gratitude for the priests, for the religious, the deacons, the laity, and just seeing the real growth in faith that has taken place here, and people’s deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and with the sacramental life of the Church. It gives me great joy to be able to see that.”
This year marks Aquila’s 50th anniversary as a priest, with 40 of those being spent in the Colorado archdiocese. He shared that during this time his relationship with God has deepened.
“Certainly, my image of God changed from a God who was more or less one who was always checking his little black book and seeing, well, how many holy things they did today and how many sins did he do today, to one of deep love,” Aquila said.
“I trust in the Holy Spirit much more profoundly. All of that has grown because early on, as a young priest, I really didn’t pray too much to the Holy Spirit or to the Father, for that matter. It was all Jesus-centered. But Jesus wants to lead us to the Father. He wants us to live in the communion that he lives with the Trinity. And so all of that has grown deeply in the last [several years] and only continues to grow,” he said.
The importance of respecting human dignity
Abortion is allowed up until the moment of birth in the state of Colorado and the right to abortion is enshrined in the state’s constitution. Throughout his time in Denver, Aquila has boldly spoken up for the unborn — frequently praying outside of abortion clinics, calling upon the faithful to defend life, and speaking out against pro-abortion legislation.
“It’s important for us to be those who speak out on the dignity of human life from the moment of conception until natural death,” Aquila said. “Science has demonstrated completely that human life begins at the moment of conception. That’s when your life began. That’s when my life began. With that, life is to be respected. It’s not our call or the call of any other human being to destroy that life. That is where all fundamental rights begin — with the right to life.”
Aquila has also been outspoken regarding immigration policies implemented by both political parties. In November 2025, Aquila led hundreds of Catholics in the Stations of the Cross outside of an ICE detention facility in Aurora, Colorado.
“You really have to welcome the stranger. The Lord is very clear on that in the Gospel,” he said. “But also with that is the responsibility that every country has to protect its borders, to look at who is this person that’s entering. Because many people got through who were not the types of persons you want in a country — whether it was drug-related, whether it was cartels, whether it was people who were murderers or criminals.”
He added: “There’s an obligation of every country to protect their own people. There has to be a very fine balance there. One that certainly is rooted in charity and one that is rooted in the truth of the Gospel and treating people with dignity, because even the criminal needs to be treated with dignity.”
The archbishop emphasized the need to help the immigrants who have raised their children here from a young age and have “held good jobs, they’ve gotten good education, they’re law-abiding, and they really see this as their country, and we should be welcoming them.”
“Why haven’t we provided them with a pathway to citizenship as quickly as possible? … Neither political party has helped immigration at all,” he said.
Looking to the future
As the archdiocese prepares to welcome Golka, Aquila said he would “encourage him to continue the missionary aspect that we’ve begun here keeping our eyes focused on Jesus Christ and really our surrender to him.”
Aquila shared that he has strongly promoted praying the Surrender Novena and the Anima Christi prayer as well as the last words of Jesus on the cross: “Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit.”
“That total trust and surrender to the Lord. Continuing to encourage that, because that’s what builds fruit,” he said.
“If you want to bear fruit, you have to embrace the cost of discipleship and live that costly grace of giving yourself completely to Christ and following in the steps of Christ,” he added. “I would just really encourage Archbishop-designate Golka to continue with that, and I know his heart’s there because I’ve known him for the last four and a half years and have had meetings and conversations, and that he understands that we are living in apostolic times that needs that missionary spirit and to continue to build on that.”
As for what his retirement plans look like, the archbishop isn’t sure yet but said he believes “it’ll be an adventure.”
“I know the Lord has stuff he wants me to do. And so I will remain open and try to discern where can I serve the best.”
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