Feb. 11, 2008

Long Time Migraton Director Asks to Yield Day-to-Day Tasks

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of the Diocese of Brooklyn has accepted Msgr. Ronald T. Marino’s request to relinquish his duties as director of the Catholic Migration Office, a post he has held for 17 years, effective June 30.

Msgr. Marino, a prominent expert on migration issues, will continue as Vicar for Migrant and Ethnic Apostolates, the Bishop said. He will also remain as pastor of St. Rosalia-Regina Pacis parish in Bensonhurst.

The Diocese will soon begin a national search for his successor in the office, Msgr. Marino said.  He has served the office in various capacities for 27 of its 37-year history.

While he will give up the day-to-day management of the agency, as Vicar he will oversee its activities and be available to assist the new director, he said. He will also oversee the pastoral ministry of the office’s 25 ethnic apostolates.

In addition, he will continue as the Bishop’s liaison to the 131 international priests serving in the Diocese and as a consultant to the Holy See Mission to the United Nations.

During his tenure as director, Msgr. Marino expanded the number of ethnic apostolates functioning in the Diocese from six to 25. More are planned, he said.

He also launched Resources, Inc., an innovative job training and job creation program for immigrants that has been featured in books, magazines and periodicals. Since l994, hundreds have been trained and placed “in dignified jobs,” he said. Currently, more than 70 are employed.

In 2005, he established The Immigrant Tenant Advocacy Program to improve housing conditions for immigrants. It is now officially linked to St. John’s University Law School as a training clinic for law students.

Looking back at the Migration Office’s ongoing work, Msgr. Marino said the Legal Services Department, which has operated for decades, has helped “tens of thousands of immigrants with their visas, becoming citizens, seeking asylum here and sponsoring relatives.”

The office has also conducted programs to educate immigrants on health issues and services and has sponsored courses in the English language and accent reduction for the international priests serving in parishes of the Diocese.

Msgr. Marino recalled the response of the Brooklyn Migration Office to the 1986 immigration reform act of Congress that allowed people to regularize their status in the United States. The Brooklyn Diocese ranked behind only the Archdioceses of Los Angeles and Chicago in the numbers who were assisted through the legalization program. The U.S. Church’s efforts were headed by then-Msgr. DiMarzio, who was the executive director of the U.S. Catholic Conference’s division of Migration and Refugee Services.

When he began his ministry to immigrants, Msgr. Marino said that then-Monsignor, now Cardinal Emeritus, Anthony Bevilacqua, the office director, “told me to obey what he was asking of me despite my lack of experience. He said, ‘the immigrants themselves will teach you everything you need to know.’ ” 

He said the Cardinal gave him words of wisdom “because I have received much more than I could ever give.”

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2/11/08