All five diocesan priests celebrating their 50th anniversaries of ordination were ordained May 27, 1967 by Archbishop Bryan J. McEntegart at St. James Pro-Cathedral, Downtown Brooklyn. They are:
Msgr. John J. Bracken, the administrator of St. Francis de Sales parish, Belle Harbor, and the director for patrimony for the diocese, will celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving at the church on Sunday, May 28.
A native of Richmond Hill, he attended St. Benedict Joseph School; Cathedral College, Brooklyn; St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore; and St. Louis University.
He served as an assistant at St. Francis de Sales, Belle Harbor, 1967-77; St. Teresa, Woodside, 1977-80; and Our Lady Help of Christians, Midwood, 1980-84.
He was the Episcopal Vicar for Queens North, 1984-91; and director of the diocesan Development Office, 1991-2009.
He was named Vicar General for Temporalities in 2004.
In addition, he has been the administrator of Holy Name parish, Windsor Terrace, 2009-10; administrator of Our Lady Help of Christians, 2011; and administrator of St. Mary Star of the Sea-St. Gertrude, Far Rockaway, 2010-11.
He also served as a member of the Priests Senate and a member of the Diocesan Board of Consultors, Ozanam Hall, Bayside; and the board of directors for the Office of Pastoral Communications, St. Joseph’s Hospital, and Community School Board No. 2.
Father Coleman Costello, a senior priest living at Bishop Mugavero Residence, Douglaston, will celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving in the chapel at the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston on Sunday, June 4, at 2 p.m.
Born in Brooklyn, he was baptized at St. Michael’s Church, Fourth Ave., Sunset Park, and attended St. Adalbert’s School, Elmhurst; LaSalle Military Academy, Oakdale, L.I.; Maryknoll Seminary, Glen Ellyn, Ill.; and St. Vincent’s Seminary, Latrobe, Pa.
He served as an assistant at St. Vincent de Paul, Williamsburg, 1967; St. Anthony of Padua, Greenpoint, 1967-69; and St. Francis de Sales, Belle Harbor, 1969-72.
In 1979, he founded the Outreach Project, a drug prevention program in Queens. In 1991, he created Walk the Walk, dedicated to working with and assisting abused elderly.
He served on the Cardinal’s Commission on Drugs and Alcohol and was a consultant to five NYS governors on abuse issues.
Father John J. Fullum, pastor emeritus of Sacred Heart parish, East Glendale, will celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving on Sunday, May 28, at Sacred Heart Church.
Born in Brooklyn, he attended St. Thomas Aquinas, Park Slope; Most Holy Trinity H.S., Williamsburg; St. John’s University, Jamaica; and Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington.
He served as an assistant at St. Thomas More-St. Edmund, Breezy Point, 1967; Mary Queen of Heaven, Mill Basin, 1967-75; and then was appointed to the faculty of Cathedral Prep, Brooklyn, where he was a teacher and dean of studies, 1975-85.
He also served as a teacher and spiritual director at Cathedral Prep, Elmhurst, 1985-92, and then became an assistant at St. Pancras, Glendale, 1992-97.
In 1997, he was appointed pastor at Sacred Heart, where he served until last year when he retired from active duty. He continues to live at Sacred Heart rectory.
He also has served as chaplain for the Brooklyn Comitium of the Legion of Mary and still serves as chaplain to the Msgr. Sherman Knights of Columbus.
Father John A. Gurrieri, a senior priest who has lived at Bishop Mugavero Residence, Douglaston, since 2010, will celebrate privately with his family in New York and later in the year in Arizona. He plans a public celebration here next year.
Born in Brooklyn, he was baptized at St. Finbar’s Church, Bath Beach, and attended public elementary school; Cathedral College, Brooklyn; and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore, Md.
He served as an assistant at St. Gertrude’s, Edgemere, 1967, and St. Joan of Arc, Jackson Heights, 1967-71, before beginning graduate studies at Institute Catholique, Paris.
He served as the diocesan consultant for the liturgy, 1975-78, and then as associate director and later executive director of the U.S. Bishops’ Commission on the Liturgy, Washington, D.C., 1978-88. He served on the International Conference on English in the Liturgy from 1980 to 1998.
In 1989, he accepted an invitation from Cardinal Roger Mahoney to establish a liturgical studies program at Mount St. Mary’s College of Los Angeles, while also teaching liturgy at St. John’s Seminary, Camarillo, Calif., until 1993.
Returning to the diocese, he was an assistant at St. Frances Cabrini, Bensonhurst, 1993-95, and pastor of St. John Cantius, East New York, 1995-2007.
Before retiring in 2010, he was an assistant at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Ridgewood, 2008; St. Andrew Avellino, Flushing, 2008-10; and St. Rita’s, Long Island City, 2010.
Father Martin A. Kirby, a resident of Chapin Home for the Aging, Jamaica, since 2014, has been on sick leave from active duty since 1999.
Born in Brooklyn, he was baptized at St. Michael’s Church, Fourth Ave., Sunset Park, and attended the parish grammar school and St. Michael’s Diocesan H.S.; Cathedral College, Brooklyn; and Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington. He did graduate studies in Sacred Scripture at Catholic University, Washington, D.C., and the Pontifical Institute, Rome.
He served as an assistant at St. Camillus, Rockaway Beach, 1967, and SS. Joachim and Anne, Queens Village, 1967-72.
In 1976, he was named associate director of the diocesan Pastoral Institute, Douglaston, and then served as director from 1987 to 2000.
He resided at Bishop Mulrooney Residence, Douglaston, 2005-07; Bishop Mugavero Residence, Douglaston, 2007-10; and the Oyster Bay Manor, 2010-11.