God gave Father Carlos C. Velásquez, 26, the gift of an early vocation.
Born in Fort Greene, he is the only son of Nicaraguan immigrants, Carlos C. Velásquez and Martha E. Solís from La Paz Centro. He has an older sister, Martha L. Velásquez, and a 13-year-old niece, Mercedes Spanoudakis.
He grew up as a member of Sacred Heart parish, Fort Greene, now part of Mary of Nazareth parish, and attended public schools, P.S. 46 and J.H.S. 113, before enrolling in Cathedral Preparatory Seminary, Elmhurst.
He went on to Cathedral Seminary Residence, Douglaston; Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington, L.I.; and St. Joseph Seminary, Yonkers, N.Y.
He earned his bachelor’s in philosophy at St. John’s University, Jamaica, and his master’s in theology and divinity from the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception.
As part of his formation, he served several summers at St. Mary Star of the Sea and St. Gertrude parish, Far Rockaway, while working at the Margert Community Corporation, a non-profit housing organization originally founded by Far Rockaway parishes. He also completed a summer assignment at the DeSales Media Group.
He served his pastoral year at SS. Peter and Paul and Epiphany, Williamsburg, and his diaconate year at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph, Prospect Heights.
For Father Velásquez, there was never any question as to what God’s will was for his life.
“I have always wanted to be a priest,” he said. “I am very grateful that the Lord placed that desire in my heart at a very young age.”
Before he even received First Holy Communion, he wanted to be an altar server; so much so that he would cry at the doors of church, begging his pastor, the late Msgr. Walter C. Murphy, to allow him to serve.
“Finally, he said yes,” Father Velásquez recalled, smiling. “They had to cut one of the cassocks to fit me.”
Altar service was just the beginning. He went on to sing in the choir, serve as a catechist, organist and sacristan, and as a teenager, he volunteered in the rectory, where Sister Eileen Neary, R.S.M., gave him a steady supply of encouragement and support.
“I grew up there; it was my second home,” he said.
Looking back, Father Velásquez credits Msgr. Murphy’s “joy in his life and ministry” with helping him to hear and answer God’s call.
“Watching him celebrate Mass drew me into the beauty of the priesthood, the beauty of the Church,” he said.
In the years that followed, he found inspiration in other priestly role models, including Fathers John Gildea and James Cunningham, and Msgrs. Peter Vaccari and Kieran Harrington.
“They all live lives of self sacrifice and yet are still joyful men,” he said.
In his priestly ministry, he looks forward to bringing “the joy and peace of the Gospel to all those whom I encounter.”
Father Velásquez will offer his First Mass of thanksgiving at St. Joseph Co-Cathedral on Sunday, June 29, at 2:30 p.m. Msgr. Vaccari will preach at the Mass.
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