Father Ronald R. Saucci, M.M., a native of Brooklyn who also lived in East Meadow, L.I., died Sept. 1 at Mission St. Teresa’s Residence in Ossining, N.Y. He was 81 years old and a Maryknoll priest for 51 years.
He joined Maryknoll on Sept. 6, 1956 at the age of 21. After ordination on June 12, 1965, he was assigned to Maryknoll’s Mission Region in Hong Kong, where he served at the Chinese University of Hong Kong; and assistant pastor in Star of the Sea parish, Chai Wan.
He was recalled to the U.S. in 1969 to serve in Maryknoll’s New York City Development House. He also was invited to appear on a weekly television talk show. Maryknoll World was broadcast every Sunday for more than 12 years on WNBC-TV New York and regional cable stations. He served as host for the first 10 years of the program.
The Maryknoll World radio program hosted by Father Saucci was heard on more than 700 stations across the country and his weekly newspaper column of the same name appeared in many newspapers.
During this time, Father Saucci also became a member of the board of The Christophers, an organization founded by Maryknoll’s Father James Keller. He served on the board until 1999.
He was named assistant director of Maryknoll’s social communications department in 1974. Among his duties was the production of films about the Church’s work in mission.
In 1978, he became acting director of Maryknoll’s social communications department and acting director of The Christophers. During that same year, as a Non-Governmental Organizations’ (NGO) representative to the United Nations, he was elected to a two-year term of office on the NGO governing board.
In 1980, he was assigned to Hong Kong as the Asian correspondent for Maryknoll magazine. He also served part-time as assistant executive director for the Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN), described as Asia’s most trusted independent Catholic News source. He was appointed UCAN director and executive editor during 1983.
Two years later, he again was assigned to Maryknoll’s Hong Kong Region and remained with UCAN.
He returned home in 1987 and was assigned as director of the social communications department. He served as publisher of Maryknoll magazine, Revista Maryknoll and Orbis Books, Maryknoll’s book publishing unit.
He was reassigned to Hong Kong in 1993 and continued his communications ministry while working at St. Joseph’s Church, serving the Filipino community in Hong Kong.
He returned to Maryknoll, New York, in 2015 and he was assigned to the Maryknoll Senior Missioner Community.
Father Saucci, the son of a Brooklyn pizzeria owner, was born in Brooklyn, where he attended P.S. 215 and Lafayette H.S. He completed one year at St. John’s University College of Pharmacy in Brooklyn before he was called into the U.S. Army.
He served in Germany for two years. He entered the Maryknoll Junior Seminary (Venard) at Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, in 1956.
Father Saucci is survived by two brothers, Eugene Saucci of North Massapequa, L.I., and Andrew Saucci of Baldwin, L.I., and his sister, Irene Pappas, of Bay Shore, L.I.