AT LONG LAST...

At Long Last…

Last week, word came from Msgr. Ed Weber that priests of the New York Oratory of St. Philip Neri have agreed to Cardinal Dolan’s request to minister to the newly formed parish of St. Ann – St. Paul as of August 1. The Oratory (see http://www.nyoratory.com), priests from the Archdiocese of Kosice, Slovakia, has been in the Archdiocese of New York since 2007 and has administered Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Tappan and St. John in Piermont. Now, Father Vladimir Chripko has been named the pastor of our parish. Two other Oratorians, Father Roman Palecko and Father Arogya Raju, will serve as parochial vicars. They will reside in the rectory of St. Paul in Congers.

Fr. Vladimir was born in Slovakia. He joined the Oratory in 2002. After completing his seminary studies at Saints Cyril and Methodius Institute and at The Komensky University in Slovakia, he was ordained to priesthood in 1995 in Kosice. Previously, he served as Catholic chaplain of Rockland Psychiatric Center and as weekend Associate Pastor of St. Michael Church in Trenton. Fr. Roman has been ministering lately to the parish of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in Tappan, and St. John in Piermont. Father Arogya has been working as a parochial vicar at St. Aeden in Pearl River.

I have been assigned as pastor to another merged parish, St. Thomas in Cornwall on Hudson and St. Joseph in New Windsor, effective August 1. I am excited that Father Simon will be coming with me as parochial vicar of the new St. Thomas-St. Joseph Parish. Father Fidelis, who will be returning from vacation to Nigeria next week, will probably be at St. Ann’s briefly while he tries to resolve his canonical status. (Father Fidelis has worked in the Archdiocese for more than five years and is required by Canon Law either to return to his own diocese or to request incardination in the present diocese in which he resides.) Father Emmanuel will remain at St. Ann’s rectory until he is granted his religious workers visa from the Department of Homeland Security at which time he will be assigned by the Archdiocese to another parish.

Christine Lundgren, who has worked at St. Ann’s beginning as a student and part-timer and has for almost twenty years served as parish secretary, will also be moving on to another parish. Julie LePore, our coordinator of religious education, will remain on for the year at St. Ann’s, until St. Ann’s program is fully incorporated with St. Paul’s.

This Sunday’s 11:30 AM Mass provides an opportunity before the union of the two parishes on August 1 to worship once more and together in the Lord as the community of St. Ann. A reception afterwards will afford us the chance to enjoy good food, to speak more personally with one another, and to remind ourselves that friendship in Christ lasts for eternity!