A Mass of Christian Burial for Father Louis Aufiero, 78, who lived at Queen of Peace Residence, Queens Village, was celebrated there June 1.
He died May 24 at Queen of Peace, five days before his 50th anniversary of ordination.
Born in Williamsburg, he attended St. Nicholas School, Most Holy Trinity H.S., Cathedral College, all Brooklyn, and Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington.
He served as an assistant at St. Rita’s, East New York, 1965-66; St. Francis Xavier, Park Slope, 1966-67; St. Malachy, East New York, 1969; Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Ridgewood, 1969-70; and St. Anselm, Bay Ridge, 1970-76.
He served as chaplain at the Abbey of Regina Laudis Monastery, Bethlehem, Conn., and at the Benedictine House of Our Lady of the Rock in the state of Washington.
He was an assistant at St. Ephrem, Dyker Heights, 1992-95, and chaplain at Mary Immaculate Hospital, Jamaica, while residing at Holy Family, Flushing, 2007-14. He retired last year.
Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros was the main celebrant of the funeral Mass. Special concelebrants included Msgrs. Martin Geraghty, Peter Kain and Father Thomas Pettei.
“He was a very spiritual priest,” said Msgr. Geraghty, pastor of St. Robert Bellarmine, Bayside.
“The people who knew him knew he was a very holy guy, who was always aware of God’s love and of other people.”
Father Aufiero is survived by his sister, Lucy O’Flaherty of Bethpage, L.I. Burial was at the Abbey of Regina Laudis Cemetery.
I was shocked to hear about fr.lou , I remember talking with him shortly after he left holy family church residents and as we talked he seemed a little distant and as if he was having a hard time remembering who I was . I’ve known father since 1973 in bay ridge Brooklyn , we’ve kept in touch ever since . What a wonderful man, we loved him , whenever we talked he always was worried if he was going long winded , little did he know I could listen to father all day . I’ll miss him terribly and I pray he’s home in heaven. Goodbye father Lou , we love you.
I knew fr Lou from st anslems church in Brooklyn , I was only 13 , that was in 1973 . He was such a gentle soul and never seemed to raise his voice , always willing to talk with you, a real parish priest , and a friend. We kept in touch over the years , I’d visit him from time to time at holy family and he at our apt in maspeth to have a nice Italian dinner my wife would cook for us . But in 2002 we moved into Florida , many times I made the offer of putting father up if he wanted to come down for a vacation , but his work was first and foremost , so sense our move we talked from time to time by phone , when this time I was trying to call him, I’d leave a message but wouldn’t hear back, until I called his residents and they told me what happened. We really loved fr Lou he’ll be missed , rest in peace father, God knows you earned it.
I was so sad to learn that Father Lou passed away.He has been a good friend, mentor and spiritual advisor since I first met him as an orthopaedic surgery resident when I was in residency training at Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica, Queens back in 2004.He baptised my only child, Andrew.My family would take him to The Metropolitan Museum of Art every Christmas season to see the lovely Christmas tree and the nativity scene there.He actually knew that my wife was 2 weeks pregnant before we even told him or anyone else one day when we took him there in late December 2009.He will be missed by all who had the pleasure of knowing him and we all look forward to one day meeting again in Heaven.We love you and miss you Father Lou.God Bless.Rest in peace.