Diocesan News

72 Parishioners Complete Lay Ministry Program

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