Fourteen Archdiocesan Priests Marking Golden Jubilees

Posted

Fourteen priests of the archdiocese are celebrating their 50th anniversaries of priesthood this year.

 

Ten of the jubilarians were ordained by Cardinal Francis Spellman in St. Patrick’s Cathedral on May 30, 1964. They are: Msgr. John Budwick, Msgr. Robert McCabe, Msgr. John Meehan, Msgr. John T. Mulligan, Father Robert Arce, Father Victor Buebendorf, Father Edward Byrne, Father Hugh Grace, Father George Kuhn and Father Charles Smarsh.

 

Two others, Msgr. Hugh Corrigan and Father Joseph Komonchak, were ordained on Dec. 18, 1963 in Rome where both had completed their studies for the priesthood at Pontifical Gregorian University.

Msgr. Kenneth Smith was ordained June 27, 1964 for the Diocese of Worcester, Mass., and Msgr. Nicholas J. Soares was ordained Dec. 2, 1964 in Bombay, India. Both were later incardinated into the archdiocese.

 

Msgr. John Budwick has served as parochial vicar at St. Joseph’s in Middletown since 2009. He was pastor of St. Patrick’s, Newburgh, 1991-2009, where he was administrator, 1986-1991. He was director of the Office of Spirituality for the Laity, 1980-1986, and a staff member of Catholic Charities, 1972-1986. He served as parochial vicar of St. Mary and St. Andrew, Ellenville, 1967-1972, and the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin, Mount Loretto, Staten Island, 1964-1967. Born in New York City, he studied for the priesthood at Cathedral College and St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie. He was named a monsignor in 1997.

 

Msgr. Hugh Corrigan is senior priest administrator of Immaculate Conception in Yonkers, where he served as pastor, 1987-2013. He also served as regional vicar of Yonkers, 1993-2011. He served as chairman of the sociology department at Cathedral College, Douglaston, where was also a faculty member, 1973-1987. He served as parochial vicar at St. Charles Borromeo parish in Harlem, 1964-1973, and as assistant chaplain at Willowbrook State School on Staten Island in the summer of 1964. Born in the Bronx, he studied for the priesthood at Cathedral College and St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, and Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was named a monsignor in 1995.

 

Msgr. Robert J. McCabe is administrator of St. Mary’s in Haverstraw, a position he has held since 1999. He served as pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas, Forestburgh, 1987-1998. He was parochial vicar at Holy Family, the Bronx, 1981-1987; St. Joseph’s, Yorkville, Manhattan, 1973-1981; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Shrub Oak, 1965-1973; and St. Agnes, Manhattan, 1964-1965. Born in Yonkers, he studied for the priesthood at St. Jerome’s College in Kitchener, Ontario, and St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie. He was named a monsignor in 1995.

 

Msgr. John Meehan, who is retired, served as pastor of St. Mary’s in Mount Vernon, 1992-2011. He was pastor of All Saints, Manhattan, 1985-1992. He also served in Manhattan as a parochial vicar at St. Charles Borromeo, 1973-1979; Resurrection, 1964-1971; and Our Lady of Lourdes, 1971-1972. He was director of the Pierre Toussaint Residence in Manhattan, 1979-1985. He served on the faculty at Cardinal Hayes High School, the Bronx, 1979-1985. Born in New York City, he studied for the priesthood at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie. He was named a monsignor in 2006.

 

Msgr. John Mulligan, who is retired, had been senior priest administrator of St. John’s, Piermont, from 2009 until his retirement last year. He was pastor there, 1998-2009. He was parochial vicar at Our Saviour, Manhattan, 1997-1998. He was on the faculty of Cardinal Hayes High School, the Bronx, 1978-1997, and Cardinal Spellman in the Bronx, 1970-1978. He was parochial vicar at St. Anthony’s, White Plains, 1967-1970, and St. Joseph’s, Kingston, 1964-1967. Born in New York City, he studied for the priesthood at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie. He was named a monsignor in 1999.

 

Msgr. Kenneth Smith has served since 2012 as senior priest administrator of St. Catherine of Genoa in Manhattan, where he was pastor, 2005-2012. He has served as a judge with the Metropolitan Tribunal since 2002. He was pastor of St. Bernard’s and administrator of St. Veronica’s, 1990-2002, both in Manhattan. He was pastor of Holy Name of Jesus, Manhattan, 1985-1990, and administrator of Nativity of Our Blessed Lady, the Bronx, 1990. He served as parochial vicar of Incarnation, Washington Heights, 1984-1985. Ordained for the Diocese of Worcester, Mass., he was incardinated into the archdiocese in 1984. He was named a monsignor in 2006. He first came to New York in 1976 to serve at the then-Northeast Pastoral Center for Hispanics.

 

Father Robert Arce is senior parish administrator of St. Margaret Mary parish in the Bronx, where he was pastor, 1991-2013. He served as parochial vicar at St. Dominic’s, 1988-1991, and St. Augustine’s, 1967-1988, both in the Bronx. From 1964 to 1967 he served at St. Lawrence O’Toole, Brewster, and did a summer assignment at Immaculate Conception, Bangall, 1964. He also served as chaplain of the Holy Name Society, 1975-1988. Born in Manhattan, he studied for the priesthood at Cathedral College and St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie.

 

Father Victor Buebendorf is senior priest administrator of St. Mary’s, St. Joseph’s and Immaculate Conception on Staten Island, a position he has held since last year. He served as pastor of St. Mary’s, 1991-2013, and was temporary administrator there earlier in 1991. He was administrator of Blessed Sacrament, Staten Island, 1990-1991. He served as parochial vicar of Holy Child, Staten Island, 1985-1990; St. Charles, Staten Island, 1971-1985; and St. Joseph’s, Manhattan, 1964-1971. Born in Brooklyn, he studied for the priesthood at Cathedral College and St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie.

 

Father Edward Byrne is senior priest administrator of St. Ann’s, Ossining, where he served as pastor, 1995-2013. From 1991 to 1995 he served as coordinator of Maryknoll’s priest-associate program, and was a Maryknoll priest-associate in Venezuela and Bolivia, 1985-1990.  In 1991, he was temporary administrator at St. Emeric’s, Manhattan, 1991, and Immaculate Conception, Staten Island. He was pastor of St. Mary’s, Grand Street, Manhattan, 1978-1985, and also served there as parochial vicar, 1964-1978. Born in the Bronx, he studied for the priesthood at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie.

 

 

Father Hugh Grace, who is retired, served as pastor of St. Boniface, Wesley Hills, 2006-2012, and St. Mary of the Snow, Saugerties, 1987-2006. He was parochial vicar at St. Mary’s, Wappingers Falls, 1976-1987; St. Columbanus, Peekskill, 1964-1976; and St. Joseph’s, Croton Falls, 1964. Born in New Rochelle, he studied for the priesthood at Christ the King Seminary in Aurora. 

 

Father Joseph Komonchak, who retired in 2009, is professor emeritus of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was named to the faculty of Catholic University in 1977 and in 1996 he inaugurated a new academic chair in religious studies. A specialist in the history and theology of the Second Vatican Council, he was the English-language editor of a five-volume history of Vatican II. In 1981-1982, he was scholar-in-residence at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He was appointed to the faculty of St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, in 1967. After a summer assignment as parochial vicar at SS. Peter and Paul parish, Mount Vernon, he served at St. Bartholomew’s parish, Yonkers, 1964-1967. Born in Nyack, he studied for the priesthood at St. Joseph’s Seminary and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He holds a doctorate in theology from Union Theological Seminary.

 

Father George Kuhn, who is retired, served as pastor of St. Joseph’s in Yonkers, 2001-2013. He was pastor of Good Shepherd in Rhinebeck, 1995-2001, and St. Brigid’s, Manhattan, 1989-1995, where he was administrator, 1986-1989. He was parochial vicar at St. Pius V, the Bronx, 1983-1986; St. Columba’s, Manhattan, 1977-1983; St. Augustine’s, Larchmont, 1968-1975; and Sacred Heart, Barrytown, 1964-1965. He served in campus ministry at Manhattanville College in Purchase, 1975-1977, and was on the faculty of Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx, 1965-1968. Born in New York City, he studied for the priesthood at Cathedral College and St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie.

 

Father Charles F. Smarsh, who is retired, had served for many years on the faculty of the University of Maryland, College Park. He served as parochial vicar of St. Catherine’s, Pelham, 1966-1970, and Our Saviour, the Bronx, 1964-1965. Born on Staten Island, he studied for the priesthood at Cathedral College and St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie.

 

Father Nicholas Soares has served since 2009 as senior priest administrator of St. Clement and St. Michael on Staten Island, where he previously had been pastor, 1988-2009. He was parochial vicar at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Staten Island, 1979-1988. He was ordained in his native India and incardinated into the archdiocese in 1980. He was named a monsignor in 1990.