Bishop DiMarzio ordained the 10 men on Saturday, June 4, in a two-and-a-half-hour ceremony at St. Joseph’s Co-Cathedral, Prospect Heights. The new priests are Fathers Gesson Agenis, Yvon-Hector Aurelien, Victor Manuel Bolaños, Mark Charlton Mendelsohn Bristol, Ralph Edel, Lukasz Kubiak, Uririoghene Melchizedek John-Baptist Okrokoto, Ambiorix D’Jesus Osorio Torres, Jaroslaw Szeraszewicz, and Marcial Thomas.
We are blessed in the Diocese of Brooklyn with the gift of 10 newly ordained priests. They come from different backgrounds and different cultures, but all share in common their Catholic faith, their zeal and earnestness to preach the Gospel, and a desire to preach that Gospel here in the Diocese of Brooklyn.
It’s ordination season and Catholics have reason to be pleased with the numbers of priests who will serve the Church well into the future. In recent years, the numbers of priestly ordinations have given Catholic Church observers reason to believe there is not a global vocations crisis, but they acknowledge there is still a need for more.
Bob Simon fell in love with two things at the age of five – the Catholic Church and building with LEGO bricks. Now, as a 51-year-old priest, Father Simon has discovered a way to merge both of these passions.
At St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, third-year student Tom Griffin said he finds “a sense of camaraderie here, of belonging, that you’re not in this alone.”
For seminarians, God’s providence came by way of the Knights of Columbus. The Refund Support Vocations Program (RSVP) is an initiative in which councils provide seminarians with financial assistance and moral support.
Following a long journey to the priesthood, Father Alexander Piñacue, 49, looks forward to working closely with parishioners and being a witness of faith.
Brooklyn native Father Rafael Jason Perez, 29, looks forward to “being able to encounter, serve and love Christ in God’s people.”
Father Mark Matthias, 51, was inspired by St. Augustine’s words, “Late did I love thee, Oh Lord.” Like St. Augustine, Father Matthias discovered God’s plan after life took in him different directions.
A missionary spirit brought Polish-born Father Lukasz Lech, 30, to the Brooklyn Diocese, where he hopes to build bridges between God and His people.
