BROOKLYN BISHOP TO ORDAIN

SIX PRIESTS FOR DIOCESE

            Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio will ordain six young men to the priesthood for the Diocese of Brooklyn at a concelebrated Mass in St. James Cathedral Basilica, Jay and Tillary Sts., Brooklyn, Saturday, June 4, at 11 a.m.

            Three of the ordinands are natives of Queens: Father Thomas R. Gilbert, 29; Father Patrick J. Keating, 29, and Father Richard P. Zuk, 31. Two were born in Haiti: Father Rony Mendes, 32, and Father Donelson Thevenin, 31. Father Michael L. Gelfant, 28, was born in Brooklyn.

            Biographies of the new priests follow:

            Father Michael L. Gelfant, the son of Robert Gelfant of Brooklyn and JoAnn Lauricello of Staten Island, was born in Brooklyn March 16, 1977.

He was educated at P.S. 114, I.S. 68 and Canarsie High School, all Brooklyn; Cathedral Seminary Residence, Douglaston; St. John’s University, Jamaica; Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington, L.I., and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Philadelphia. His pastoral year was served at St. Bartholomew’s parish, Elmhurst.

He worked briefly at Beth Israel Medical Center, Manhattan, and during his studies he also served as program coordinator for the Diocesan Language Institute, Douglaston.

Father Gelfant will celebrate his First Mass at Our Lady of Miracles Church, 757 E. 86^th St., Brooklyn, Sunday, June 5, at 3:30 p.m. Msgr. Thomas G. Caserta will preach the homily. The concelebrants will include Msgrs. Raymond F. Chappetto, Octavio Cisneros, Joseph Prior and Michael J. Fitzgerald and Fathers Steven J. Aguggia, Andre Bain, Francis J. Hughes and priests of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

A reception will follow in the Father Simonetti parish center.

Father Thomas R. Gilbert, the son of Robert and Dolores Gilbert of Middle Village, was born in Forest Hills March 26, 1976.

            He studied at Our Lady of Hope School and Christ the King Regional High School, both Middle Village; St. John’s University, Jamaica, and Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington, L.I. He spent his pastoral year at Our Lady of Angels parish, Bay Ridge.

            For one year before entering the seminary, he was a biology teacher at Jamaica High School. For two months last Summer he participated in the pastoral program for seminarians in the Diocese of LaVega, Dominican Republic.

            Father Gilbert will celebrate his First Mass in Our Lady of Hope Church, 61-27 71^st St., Middle Village, Sunday, June 5, at 2 p.m. The homilist will be Father James Massa. Concelebrants will include Msgr. Nicholas W. Sivillo and Fathers Christopher M. O’Connor and Cuong M. Pham. Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius A. Catanello will be in choir at Mass.

            Father Gilbert will offer a Mass of Thanksgiving at Our Lady of Fatima Church, 25-02 80^th St., Jackson Heights, Sunday, June 12, at noon. He served as a deacon there since January.

Father Patrick J. Keating, the son of William and Mary Keating of Sunnyside, was born in Sunnyside April 25, 1976.

            He attended Queen of Angels School, Sunnyside; Archbishop Molloy High School, Briarwood; Baruch College, Manhattan; Cathedral Seminary Residence, Douglaston, and Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington, L.I. His pastoral year was served at St. Finbar’s parish, Bath Beach.

            He has studied Spanish at the Diocesan Language Institute and spent two months last Summer participating in the pastoral program for seminarians in the Diocese of LaVega, Dominican Republic.

Father Keating will celebrate his First Mass at Queen of Angels Church, 44-04 Skillman Ave., Sunnyside, Sunday, June 5, at noon. Father Charles Caccavale will preach the homily. Concelebrants will include Msgr. Octavio Cisneros and Fathers Vincent M. Daly, Matthew W. Sheridan, Joseph T. Holcomb and Peter J. Rayder.

Father Keating will offer a Mass of Thanksgiving in St. Bartholomew’s Church, 43-22 Ithaca St., Elmhurst, Sunday, June 19, at 1 p.m. He served as a deacon there on weekends since January.

Father Rony Mendes, the son of Yves and Adrienne Mendes of Brooklyn, was born in St. Marc, Haiti, Aug. 8, 1972.

            His early education was at schools in Haiti: Episcopal School of Redemption, Gonaives, and Adrian Brothers of Sacred Heart, Centre de Formation Classique, St. John Evangelist and Lycee Alexandre Petion, all in Port-au-Prince.

            After his arrival in the United States in 1994, he attended York College, Jamaica; Cathedral Seminary Residence, Douglaston; St. John’s University, Jamaica, and Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington, L.I. His pastoral year was served at SS. Joachim and Anne parish, Queens Village.

            In 2001 he participated in the Catholic Relief Services Global Fellows Program for Seminarians in Burkina Faso and Ghana. He has also studied the Spanish language and culture in Central America.

            Father Mendes will celebrate his First solemn trilingual Mass in SS. Joachim and Anne Church, 218-26 105^th Ave., Sunday, June 5, at 4 p.m. He will also preach the homily. Concelebrants will include Msgrs.  Joseph P. Malagreca, Raymond W. Kutner and Michael J. Reid.                                                                                            

            Father Mendes will offer a Mass of Thanksgiving in Blessed Sacrament Church, 34-43 93^rd St., Jackson Heights, Saturday, June 11, at 5 p.m. He served as a deacon there on weekends since January.

            He will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving in his home parish of St. Ignatius, 1101 Carroll St., Crown Heights, Sunday, June 12, at 11 a.m.

Father Donelson Thevenin, son of Jean Paul Luc of Haiti and Marie Lourdes Roselle Thevenin of Brooklyn, was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, July 19, 1973.

            He began his education in Haiti, at Gesner Anglade and St. Jean Bosco in Port-au-Prince and at Ecole de la Sainte Enfance and Lycee Jacque Premier, both in Croix-des-Bouquets.

            In 1993 he came to the United States and continued his studies at the Educational Opportunity Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn College, Cathedral Seminary Residence, Douglaston; St. John’s University, Jamaica, and Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington, L.I. He served his pastoral year at St. Mark’s parish, Sheepshead Bay.

            He is a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Chaplains Corps as a reservist. He has studied Spanish language and culture in Spain.

Father Thevenin will celebrate his First Mass in St. Jerome’s Church, 2900 Newkirk Ave., Flatbush, Sunday, June 4, at 4 p.m. Msgr. Guy Sansaricq will preach the homily. Concelebrants will include Msgrs. Sansaricq, Rollin J. Darbouze and Guy A. Massie and Fathers Joseph R. Grimaldi, Lubermann Morne, Max Osias, Guerlain Chancy, Pierre Barthelus and Gerald Dumont.

Father Thevenin served as a deacon on weekends at St. Teresa’s parish in Woodside.

Father Richard P. Zuk, son of Eugene and Helen Zuk of College Point, was born in Flushing Oct. 12, 1973.

            He was educated at St. Fidelis School, College Point; Archbishop Molloy High School, Briarwood; New York Institute of Technology, Old Westbury; Cathedral Seminary Residence, Douglaston, and Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington, L.I. His pastoral year was served at the parishes of St. Bonaventure and St. Benedict the Moor, Jamaica.

            During his seminary studies he attended the Catholic University of Lublin, Poland, for courses in the Polish language and culture and participated in the Catholic Relief Services Global Fellows Program for Seminarians in Cuba.  He has also served as an emergency medical technician.

            Father Zuk will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving in St. Fidelis Church, 123-06 14^th Ave., College Point, Sunday, June 12, at 2 p.m. Concelebrants will include Msgrs. Thomas G. Caserta, James J. Cooney and George F. Zatarga and Father Arthur G. Minichello.

            Since January, Father Zuk has served as a deacon on weekends at St. Matthias parish, Ridgewood.