[1] On June 12, 1983, Jugis was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Charlotte by Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

[1] In 1987, Jugis began studying part time at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. while serving as parochial vicar at Sacred Heart Parish in Salisbury, North Carolina.

On October 24, 2003, Jugis received his episcopal consecration at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte from Donoghue, with Bishops William Curlin and Francis Gossman serving as co-consecrators.

[7][8][9] On July 1, 2020, Jugis announced that Reverend Patrick Hoare, the newly-appointed pastor of St. Matthew Parish in Charlotte, was barred from active ministry on the recommendation of the diocese’s Lay Review Board.

[10] Jugis submitted his resignation as bishop of Charlotte to the Vatican in June 2023, citing a chronic kidney condition that prevented him from performing his duties.

[12] During the 2004 U.S. presidential election, Jugis said that Catholic politicians who support abortion rights for women should be denied communion unless they publicly recant their views.

[16] On April 23, 2015, Jugis banned New Ways Ministry co-founder Sister Jeannine Gramick from speaking at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Charlotte.