A bilingual liturgy and commissioning ceremony will be celebrated Monday, May 19, in the chapel at the Immaculate Conception Center, Douglaston, for those persons who have completed the requirements of the Lay Ministry Program, sponsored by the diocesan School of Evangelization/Pastoral Institute.
The diocese will honor 72 persons who represent 27 parishes in Brooklyn and Queens. These commissioned lay pastoral leaders have completed a three-year program of study, spiritual reflection, mentoring and pastoral preparation. They join more than 750 others who have successfully completed the program, which is offered in both English and Spanish and has been in existence since 2001.
“While all baptized persons are called to serve others, the new lay pastoral leaders have been prepared to coordinate new or existing parish programs,” said Gerald J. Tortorella, director of the Pastoral Institute.
“The education and formation they have received has broadened their theological knowledge, deepened their spirituality and enhanced their skills so that they will be effective in their service to others.”
Classes were held at four centers throughout the diocese.
The following persons will be commissioned for lay ministry in their parishes:
Blessed Sacrament, Cypress Hills
Victoria Perdomo
Blessed Virgin Mary Help of Christians, Woodside
Lázaro C. Camacho
Holy Cross, Flatbush
Joycelyn M. Adrien and Sandra M. Roper
Holy Name of Jesus, Windsor Terrace
Ana Cecilia Acosta, Alba Borges, and Maryellen J. Keogh
Immaculate Conception, Jamaica
Derek Jean Marie Mathias de Sa
Mary’s Nativity-St. Ann, Flushing
Dolores Grosso and James Grosso
Most Precious Blood, L.I.C.
Gloria S. Mendiola
O.L. Fatima, East Elmhurst
Dorothy K. Lehman
O.L. Mount Carmel, Astoria
Francisca Alvarez, Carmelo Avilés, Guadalupe Bravo R., Franklin A. Calderón, Hilda Calderón Lugo, Sofía Contreras de Avilés, Luisa S. Cortés, Lilia Margarita Forero T., Abimael Mitre González, Fermina Gutierrez, Maria Asunción Hernandez Astudillo, Neida C. Martinez, Miriam Montes Ocampo, Hyacinthe Muka, Maria de la Luz Patricio, Rosa Milagros Rios, Eduardo Rivera, Jose F. Robles, Elaine H. Rodriguez, Robert Salerni, Armando Tapia, Steven Towns, Julieta Vázquez Roldán and Netzahi Victoria Báez
Presentation B.V.M., Jamaica
Yomara Eugenia Hernández Baquiax, Wilfredo Machado, and Salvadora Angélica Ortiz
SS. Joachim and Anne, Queens Village
Marie Jocelyne Benjamin, Evelyne Bonny, Marie A. Coty, Jacqueline Sandra Dupiton Joseph, Josephine M. Ferrier, Josette Jean-Louis, Yolande M. Jeannot, Neftali Prudencio, Erlinda Prudencio de Rodriguez, Eleen Trumpet, Ramona Valerio, and Carmen R. Velázquez
St. Agatha, Sunset Park
María E. Chíqui
St. Andrew Avellino, Flushing
Maria E. Londono
St. Benedict Joseph Labre, Richmond Hill
Ines A. Jaime
St. Bonaventure-St. Benedict the Moor, Jamaica
Celia Clarke-Lewis
St. Catherine of Genoa, Flatbush
Shirley Jeanty
St. Clare, Rosedale
Chantal Phillpotts
St. Edmund, Sheepshead Bay
Lou Perillo
St. Gregory the Great, Bellerose
Deborah M. Dolecal
Susan M. Grimes
St. Joan of Arc, Jackson Heights
Cecilia Stella Giraldo O.
St. Joseph, Astoria
Enedina Luis Méndez
Rosa B. Tenesaca
St. Michael, Sunset Park
Susana Medina
St. Michael, Flushing
Claire Haesook Paik
St. Michael-St. Malachy, East New York
Madeline Plasencia
St. Nicholas of Tolentine, Jamaica
Rosanna Baigorria and Jesús Guadalupe Castillo
St. Teresa of Avila-St. Anthony of Padua, South Ozone Park
Claudia P. Peña, Blanca Sarmiento, and Jose Sarmiento
St. Thomas the Apostle, Woodhaven
Karen E. Smith
