Diocesan News

Mariner‑Turned‑Deacon Swaps High Seas for Higher Calling in the Diocese of Brooklyn

January 16, 2026
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Deacon Matthew Bonvento spent nearly a decade sailing the world as a merchant mariner. (Photos: Courtesy of Deacon Matthew Bonvento)

WHITESTONE — Matthew Bonvento of Flushing stepped away from life at sea after nearly a decade sailing the world as a merchant mariner. 

He now serves the people of God on dry land, having been ordained Nov. 22 as a new permanent deacon for Holy Trinity Parish in Whitestone.  

Still, Deacon Bonvento, 46, stays connected with the world of ships and swells as an associate professor at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, Long Island. There, he helps educate midshipmen — men and women — become licensed Merchant Marine officers. The curriculum includes seamanship, safety, maritime law, and more.  

He tells them that life aboard ships can be grueling, working in sweltering heat below the Equator, or in the bone-chilling environs of northern waters. Occasionally, Deacon Bonvento said, it’s dangerous, like during fierce storms. Still, there are other perils at sea — not to a mariner’s physical body, but to their soul.  

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Thus, Deacon Bonvento shares how to keep the faith and heart for worship aboard ships.  

First, he tells them that modern crews typically have no chaplains. 

“There’s nothing,” he said. “It’s all self-care. 20-plus years ago, we didn’t really have YouTube, podcasts, and the internet; it was whatever books you carried with you, and whatever your spiritual discipline was, keeping up with it.” 

These days, he noted, modern vessels have the internet and, thus, access to uplifting, spiritual programming. 

But there is also as much, if not more, very dark content, just like ashore. Discerning the two extremes challenges people at sea, Deacon Bonvento said. 

“I remind them frequently that it’s going to be up to them to carry on for themselves when they’re at sea,” he added. 

However, the deacon said, being close to God is eased by beholding his handiwork. 

Midshipmen from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, Long Island, join members of the Knights of Columbus Honor Guard and Bishop Robert Brennan in congratulating Deacon Matthew Bonvento (center), a professor at the academy. He was ordained into the permanent diaconate of the Diocese of Brooklyn by Bishop Brennan on Nov. 22. (Photo: Bill Miller)

“There is a peace just being at sea,” Deacon Bonvento explained. “It’s hard to describe, but when it’s the middle of the night on the bridge, you can just step out and look at the sky and really appreciate this creation that God has given us. 

“This beautiful planet, the scope and breadth of the ocean, the depth of the night sky, the stars — the beauty of it all is just awe-inspiring.” 

The United States Merchant Marine is an organization of civilian mariners and a fleet of U.S.-flagged ships performing double roles for the nation’s economy and defense. 

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For example, it handles commercial shipping, domestic and international, to move finished goods and raw materials that help fuel the economy. 

In times of war, it becomes a military auxiliary tasked with transporting troops and equipment. Officers in the Merchant Marine are sometimes commissioned into the U.S. Navy Reserve. 

The vessels include container ships, oil tankers, tugboats, car carriers, ferries, grain “bulkers,” and research vessels. Deacon Bonvento worked on most of them, performing various tasks, including serving as a deck officer. 

These days, Deacon Bonvento teaches at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy on Long Island while serving as a permanent deacon for Holy Trinity Parish in Whitestone, Queens.

He grew up in College Point, Queens, where his family belonged to the Episcopal Church. He loved the faith and aspired to join its clergy after a seafaring career. 

“I always had a desire to serve, but I also knew that college was going to be important to me,” Deacon Bonvento said. “But I did not get into one of the federal service academies like Annapolis, West Point, or even the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.” 

Instead, Deacon Bonvento graduated from State University of New York Maritime College in the Throggs Neck neighborhood of the Bronx. 

“I went out to sea a couple of times on the training ship, and just absolutely loved it,” he said. “So, when I got out of college, that was my choice. I wanted to see the world. So many people don’t get to travel, but I was paid to travel the world.” 

Deacon Bonvento was still an Episcopalian when he began dating his future wife, Danielle, a member of Holy Trinity Parish. The dream of becoming an Episcopalian priest stopped with his conversion to the Roman Catholic Church, but a different possibility emerged — the permanent diaconate.  

As a convert, he was required to wait five years before entering formation. Meanwhile, he served as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, a hospital ministry visitor, religious educator, and lector. 

Now he orders his life around being a college professor, a deacon, but a family man first. 

Deacon Bonvento’s wife, Danielle, teaches English and language arts to fourth- and fifth-graders at St. Luke School in Whitestone. They’re shown here with their children, Matteo, 6, and Arianna, 4.

The Bonventos have two children — son, Matteo, 6, and daughter, Arianna, 4. Because he decided to stay ashore, the children, thankfully, don’t know the sadness that comes with their dad being absent for long stretches at sea. 

But does he miss the sea? 

“You know, my son asks me that question a lot,” he said. “I’ll give you the answer I give him: I missed the job, and I loved the challenge of the job. 

“But I could never imagine being away from my family.”