As was announced this weekend, we have begun a time of transition at St. Columba:

Father Michael McLoughlin, after having served our parish one year as Administrator and six years as Pastor,  has been renewed by Cardinal Dolan for a second term of six years as Pastor of St. Columba.

Father Michael Connolly, after serving St. Columba as a newly ordained priest for three years, has been assigned by Cardinal Dolan as Parochial Vicar at St. Martin de Porres Parish in Red Oaks Mill with an additional part-time ministry as Chaplain at Our Lady of Lourdes High School.

Father Walter Genito, after serving at St. Martin de Porres as a newly ordained priest, has been assigned by Cardinal Dolan as Parochial Vicar at St. Columba.

All three assignments are effective on July 1.

Father Connolly’s last full day at St. Columba will be on June 22. He will return to offer a Mass of Thanksgiving on Sunday, June 27 at 12:00 noon. It will be followed by a reception in the school gym. We thank Father Connolly for his outstanding and faithful ministry at St. Columba and promise him our prayers as he begins a new chapter in his priesthood.

We invite all to warmly welcome Father Genito to St. Columba. He is an outstanding young priest (second youngest in the ADNY!). Please offer him your prayerful support and encouragement as he too begins a new chapter in his priesthood. Father Genito will arrive on or about July 1.

Father Bob Porpora, Pastor of St. Denis, has received a new assignment as Pastor of St. Peter’s Parish in Monticello, an area where Father Bob grew up. For over twenty-five years Father Bob and Father Michael have received assignments in neighboring parishes, so it is with a deep sense of loss that we say goodbye. He has been a wonderful pastor and is a superb priest, and we wish him many blessings as he begins a new Pastorate. On July 1 St. Denis parish will welcome Father Andrew Carrozza, currently Pastor of St. Ann’s in Yonkers, as their new Pastor.

Our former Parochial Vicar, Father Christopher Argano, has been serving for five years as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of New York. Cardinal Dolan has recently named him the new Pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Washingtonville as well as St. Columba in Chester. His appointment is effective July 1. We wish Father Chris many blessings has he begins his new Pastorate.