Two diocesan priests and two members of the Passionist Order are celebrating their 65th anniversaries of priesthood this year.
Msgr. August Bednartz, a senior priest at Bishop Mugavero Residence, Douglaston, is the former pastor of St. Raphael parish, Sunnyside.
Ordained June 7, 1952 by Bishop Thomas E. Molloy at St. James pro-Cathedral, Downtown Brooklyn, he also served as an assistant at St. Aloysius, Ridgewood, 1952-63; St. Margaret, Middle Village, 1963-73; and Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, Ridgewood, 1973-80.
Msgr. Edward J. Bottino, who resides at Mary’s Nativity rectory, Flushing, is the former pastor there.
Ordained June 7, 1952 by Bishop Thomas E. Molloy at St. James Pro-Cathedral, Downtown Brooklyn, he also served as an assistant at St. Andrew Avellino, 1952-66; St. Edmund’s, Sheepshead Bay, 1966-78; and St. Benedict Joseph Labre, Richmond Hill, 1978-79.
The two Passionist priests are Father Theophane Cooney, C.P., who was ordained May 25, 1952, and Father Bonaventure Moccia, C.P., who was ordained Feb. 28, 1952. Both live at the Immaculate Conception Monastery in Jamaica Estates.