Msgr. Faustino Cordero, a retired priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, died on Oct. 30 at age 88. 

Msgr. Cordero, who was born March 13, 1937, and ordained to the priesthood on Oct. 10, 1971, was pastor of St. Rocco Church (Park Slope) from 1992 to 2011, and from 2011 to 2012 was pastor of the merged St. John the Evangelist-St. Rocco Parish (Greenwood). 

He also served the Diocese of Brooklyn as parochial vicar for the parishes of St. Finbar (Bath Beach), St. Rita (Long Island City), Our Lady of Fatima (Jackson Heights), and St. Barbara (Bushwick). 

Msgr. Cordero was born in Chita, Boyacá, Colombia, to a family of eight children. His family is rich in vocations — a brother and several cousins and nephews are priests, and several nieces are nuns. 

He studied at the seminary in Bogotá and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Arauca. 

He was appointed pastor of the diocesan cathedral. He moved to the United States to study educational sciences, specializing in religious studies, at La Salle University in Philadelphia. 

While he was serving at Sr. Rita’s, he was appointed spiritual director of the Movimiento Familiar Cristiano for the Diocese of Brooklyn. And while he was pastor at St. Rocco’s, Pope John Paul II appointed him as a prelate of honor in 1999. For almost 10 years, starting in 2012, Msgr. Cordero was a resident priest at St. Finbar. 

The funeral Mass for Msgr. Cordero was celebrated on Nov. 5 at Holy Family- St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Park Slope, where his nephew, Father Jesus Cuadros, is pastor emeritus. 

Bishop Robert Brennan was the principal celebrant, and Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Octavio Cisneros was the homilist. Burial followed at St. Joseph Cemetery in Toms River, New Jersey.