VIDEO: Former NYPD Deputy Commissioner Ernie Hart Prepares for Priesthood
SPRINGFIELD GARDENS —After a career spanning law enforcement and the judiciary, Deacon Ernie Hart is preparing to answer a new calling: the priesthood.
Hart, a deacon at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Springfield Gardens, Queens, is scheduled to be ordained a priest on Nov. 21 in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut. He will also be installed as pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Church in Fairfield, Connecticut.
His path to the priesthood follows decades of public service, including positions as a New York City Police Department deputy commissioner and a State of New York Supreme Court justice.
For Deacon Hart, the transition from public service to ministry feels like a natural next step.
“My professional life is one of service,” he said. “So it was definitely consistent with what I was doing with the rest of my life. I think it was a natural calling.”
Faith has been a constant throughout Hart’s life. He credits his mother and grandmother with instilling Catholic values in him from an early age.
His Catholic education, which included St. Francis Preparatory School, Fordham University, and Villanova University, also helped shape his spiritual journey.
“I wouldn’t be here without the education and the spiritual direction I had,” he said.
But when Deacon Hart began considering the priesthood, his mother had reservations. Her concerns were rooted not in a lack of faith, he said, but in her experiences with racism in the Church she had grown up in.
Hart said those concerns remain relevant, particularly as he reflects on raising his three children and the discrimination Black Americans continue to face.
“As a parent of Black children who still experience that — that still exists in the world, certainly in the United States,” he said. “You have to be able to get them and others through that. It’s a stain. It’s probably never going to go away.”
Deacon Hart’s ordination also comes at a significant moment for Black Catholic representation in the U.S. Church. He is among six U.S.-born Black Catholics expected to be ordained to the diaconate or priesthood nationwide in the coming months, marking the highest number in years.
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“I think it’s extremely important to show that the faith transcends race,” Deacon Hart said.
His own faith has never been something he has kept private.
“My faith has always been part of my outward self. I never shy away from it,” he said.
Deacon Hart believes his professional and personal experiences will help him relate to parishioners as a priest. His years in public service, he said, have prepared him for the interpersonal nature of ministry, from offering spiritual guidance and consolation to helping families navigate the challenges of raising children.
“What you’re doing is interpersonal relationships, speaking to parishioners, giving them spiritual help, giving them consolation, advice on raising children,” he said. “I’ve done that. I’ve done all that.”