Bishop announces priest personnel changes

Bishop McManus has announced the appointment of three parish administrators, and five associate pastors and a transitional deacon, four of whom are to be ordained June 23 at St. Paul Cathedral.
The bishop has also announced the assignment of three priests to specialized ministries, the retirement of four priests, and his approval of assignments for Augustinians of the Assumption.  
Unlike other years, no new pastors have been announced, except at the Assumptionist-staffed parish in the Fiskdale section of Sturbridge. At other parishes, administrators are succeeding retiring or retired pastors.
An administrator has the rights and responsibilities of a pastor, without a specific term, explained Father Richard F. Reidy, the diocese’s vicar general. Except in cases of necessity, an administrator should not undertake renovations or major initiatives that should best be left for a pastor, he said.
The changes are effective July 1 unless otherwise noted.
One of the priests who is retiring is Father George J. Ridick, pastor of Sacred Heart-St. Catherine of Sweden Parish in Worcester.
Succeeding him as administrator is Father Eric K. Asante, who is currently associate pastor of St. Cecilia Parish in Leominster.
Succeeding him as St. Cecilia’s associate pastor is Father Miguel A. Pagán, a chaplain at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester.
Becoming a chaplain at the hospital is Father Stephen M. Gemme, who has been doing limited parish sacramental ministry. He is to live at St. Paul Cathedral while doing this ministry.
Also retiring is Father Ernest P. Allega, pastor of St. Denis Parish in East Douglas.
Succeeding him as administrator is Father Juan D. Escudero, associate pastor of St. Mary Parish in Shrewsbury.
Deacon Javier Julio De Arco, who is scheduled to be ordained a priest June 23, is to become St. Mary’s associate pastor Aug. 1. His transitional diaconate ministry has been at St. Gabriel, the Archangel Parish in Upton.
Father Michael J. Sheridan, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Dudley, retired March 30 for medical reasons.
Succeeding him as administrator is Father Daniel E. Moreno, associate pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Millville and Good Shepherd Parish in Linwood.
To succeed Father Moreno at those two parishes Aug. 1 is Deacon Victor Sierra Lopez, who is scheduled to be ordained a priest June 23.
Father James J. Caldarella, minister to priests, is retiring.
Father Dennis J. O’Brien, who retired last year for medical reasons, is coming out of retirement to become minister to priests. He is to continue living at St. Mary Parish in Uxbridge while doing this ministry.
Father Roger R. Boucher, who has been doing priestly ministry for the Veterans Administration and campus ministry in the Diocese of Manchester, N.H., is also retiring.
A new associate pastor is Father Juan D. Echavarría, who is to start at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish at Our Lady of Loreto Church in Worcester Aug. 1. On that date he is also becoming one of the defenders of the bond in the marriage tribunal, succeeding Franciscan Father Brice Leavins, who retired recently.
Father Echavarría has been studying canon law in Rome. He will be working with Msgr. F. Stephen Pedone, pastor of the parish and judicial vicar/vicar for canonical affairs, who heads the tribunal. Father Caldarella, who is retiring, had been helping Msgr. Pedone at the parish while serving as minister to priests.
Deacon Alan J. Martineau, who is scheduled to be ordained a priest June 23, is to become associate pastor at St. Anne Parish in Shrewsbury for the summer, before returning to Rome for further studies. St. Anne’s does not currently have an associate pastor, but has a pastor and a senior priest.
Juan Sanchez Guzman, who is to be ordained a transitional deacon June 23, is to do diaconate ministry at Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Leominster, beginning Aug. 1.
Also being assigned to specialized ministry is Father Donato Infante III, who is becoming associate director of vocation recruitment. He is to remain associate pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Charlton.
Bishop McManus has also approved the following assignments, made by Father Dennis Gallagher, provincial superior of the North American Province of the Augustinians of the Assumption, and reported in The Catholic Free Press last month:
 Assumptionist Father Alex Castro, provincial treasurer, is also to become pastor of St. Anne and St. Patrick Parish is Sturbridge Aug. 1. He will succeed Assumptionist Father Peter R. Precourt, who plans to stay at the parish through the end of the year to help with the transition. Assumptionist Father John Franck, a former provincial now doing translation work, is to become associate pastor at St. Anne and St. Patrick in mid-October.

Father Eric Kwaku Asante

Father Eric Kwaku Asante, associate pastor of St. Cecilia Parish in Leominster, has been named administrator of Sacred Heart-St. Catherine of Sweden Parish in Worcester, effective July 1.
Father Asante, son of Christian K. Asante and Margaret Y.  (Brako) Asante, was born April 2, 1973 in Adjuafua, Ghana.
He graduated in 1995 from St. Mary’s Secondary School in Takoradi, Ghana, and got a certificate as a laboratory technician from Accra Polytechnic.
In 1999 he came to the United States to study at DeVry University in Chicago, where he got his bachelor’s degree in 2005.
In 2003 he came to Worcester to visit a Ghanaian Catholic friend and learned about the possibility of becoming a priest for the Worcester Diocese.
He studied for the priesthood from 2005 to 2012 at St. Charles Seminary in Overbrook, Pennsylvania, and Saint John’s Seminary in Brighton.
On June 2, 2012 Bishop McManus ordained him, the first Ghanaian priest for the Worcester diocese.
On June 30, 2012 he was named associate pastor of St. George Parish in Worcester.
From 2014 to 2017 he was chaplain of the diocesan African Ministry. From 2015-2017 he was administrator of Prince of Peace Parish in Princeton. On July 1, 2017 he was appointed associate pastor of St. Cecilia’s.

Father Juan David Escudero

Father Juan David Escudero, associate pastor of St. Mary Parish in Shrewsbury, was named administrator of St. Denis Parish in East Douglas, effective July 1.
Father Escudero, son of Juan C. Escudero and Maria E. Muñoz, was born June 10, 1989 in Medellin, Colombia. He has a sister named Sandra Escudero.
He attended Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellin and started seminary training at the Seminario Conciliar de Medellin. After meeting men from Colombia who were ordained for the Worcester Diocese, he applied here, was accepted and came in 2012.
He lived at Holy Name of Jesus House of Studies and studied English at Clark University, then attended St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he received his bachelor’s in sacred theology and his master’s of divinity.
Bishop McManus ordained him a priest June 20, 2015 in St. Paul Cathedral. He has been associate pastor of St. Mary Parish in Shrewsbury since then.

Father Daniel Eduardo Moreno

Father Daniel Eduardo Moreno was named administrator of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Dudley, where he served as a seminarian. He begins there as administrator July 1. He has been associate pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Millville and Good Shepherd Parish in Linwood.
Father Moreno, son of Libardo Moreno and Gladys Jimenez, was born Nov. 2, 1986 in Medellin, Colombia.
He attended Instituto Tecnico Industrial Pascual Bravo in Medellin. He got his bachelor’s in philosophy from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana while living at Seminario Conciliar de Medellin.
He came to the United States in 2010 to study for the priesthood for the Worcester Diocese. He lived at Holy Name of Jesus House of Studies and studied English at Clark University. He got his bachelor’s in sacred theology and his master’s of divinity at St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore.
Bishop McManus ordained him a priest June 20, 2015 in St. Paul Cathedral.