Three priests are retiring, two are becoming pastors of parishes they’ve been serving and two are becoming administrators, Bishop McManus has announced. One associate pastor is being transferred, and other priests are taking on special ministries. These changes are effective July 1.
Father John F. Gee, the oldest pastor in the diocese, is retiring, after leading North American Martyrs Parish in Auburn for 30 years. Father Frederick D. Fraini III, who has been offering sacramental assistance there, is becoming the pastor. Father Fraini served as pastor of St. Anna Parish in Leominster from 2013-2019.
Also retiring is Father Richard A. Jakubauskas, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in North Brookfield and St. John the Baptist Parish in East Brookfield. Father William C. Schipper is becoming administrator of the two parishes, while remaining pastor of Mary, Queen of the Rosary Parish in Spencer. Father Donald C. Ouellette remains as associate pastor of St. Joseph’s and St. John the Baptist.
Father Joseph M. Nally, senior priest at St. George Parish in Worcester, is retiring. Father Thiago DaSilva, associate pastor of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Milford, is becoming associate pastor at St. George’s.
Father Daniel E. Moreno, administrator of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Dudley, is becoming pastor there.
Father John F. Hamm, administrator of St. Paul Parish in Warren and St. Stanislaus Parish in West Warren, is being assigned to diocesan sacramental ministry, with residence at Holy Family Parish in Worcester. Sacramental ministry involves administering the sacraments, such as celebrating Mass and hearing confessions, in parishes where needed.
Father Alan J. Martineau is becoming administrator of St. Paul Parish in Warren and St. Stanislaus Parish in West Warren, and Defender of the Bond in the diocesan Marriage Tribunal.
Father James S. Mazzone is becoming diocesan priest personnel director, while remaining pastor of St. John, Guardian of Our Lady Parish in Clinton. In his new position he is succeeding Father Walter J. Riley, pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Worcester.
Father Donato Infante III is becoming chaplain at the new St. Paul Diocesan Junior/Senior High School in Worcester, which has been formed from Holy Name and St. Peter-Marian Central Catholic Junior/Senior High schools. Father Infante remains diocesan vocation director and co-director of Holy Name of Jesus House of Studies in Worcester.
Father Alfredo Porras is to teach religion at the new St. Paul’s school. He has been named Catholic chaplain at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, filling a vacant position. He will also serve as diocesan master of ceremonies. He had been in Rome, working on a licentiate in sacred theology with a specialization in liturgical theology. He will be in residence at St. Paul Cathedral.
Father Dario Acevedo is becoming sacramental minister at St. Peter Parish in Worcester while remaining chaplain for the Brazilian Community at St. Anna Parish in Leominster, with residence at St. Anna’s.
Retiring Pastors
Father John F. Gee
Father John F. Gee was born in Webster on Aug. 4, 1927, the son of John and Anna (Graham) Gee. He graduated from St. Louis High School and attended St. Thomas Seminary, Bloomfield, Connecticut.
He completed his studies for the priesthood at the Seminary of Philosophy and the Grand Seminary in Montreal.
He was ordained on June 13, 1953, at St. Louis Church, Webster, by Bishop John J. Wright. He served as associate pastor of St. Anne Parish, Southborough; Immaculate Conception, St. Stephen, St. Catherine of Sweden and St. Charles Borromeo parishes, all in Worcester, and Sacred Heart Parish, Gardner.
In 197l he was appointed pastor of Holy Spirit Parish, Gardner. In October 1977, while pastor of Holy Spirit, he served as president of the Senate of Priests.
On Feb. 20, 1981, he was named pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish, Mendon. He was appointed pastor of North American Martyrs Parish, Auburn, on June 29, 1990. He is retiring effective July 1.
Father Richard A. Jakubauskas
Father Richard A. Jakubauskas, son of Leopold and Eugenia (Mirozcikas) Jakubauskas, was born on Nov. 29, 1943, in Kaunas, Lithuania. He graduated in 1961 from St. Peter High School, Worcester, where he was a three-sport athlete. He received a bachelor’s degree in English from Clark University in 1966, and a master’s degree in 1968, and certificate in advanced graduate studies in 1972, both from Assumption College.
He served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps at various posts in the United States. He also worked for several years as an advertising representative for The Catholic Free Press.
He studied for the priesthood at Pope John XXIII National Seminary in Weston and received a master of divinity degree in 1999. Bishop Daniel P. Reilly ordained him a transitional deacon in June 1998 and a priest on June 5, 1999. Both ordinations were at St. Paul Cathedral.
Following ordination, Father Jakubauskas became associate pastor of St. Cecilia Parish in Leominster.
He was named pastor of St. Casimir Parish in Worcester on June 15, 2001. On July 1, 2008, he was made chaplain to the Lithuanian community at St. John Parish in Worcester and, in September that year, also administrator of Our Lady Immaculate and St. Francis of Assisi parishes, Athol; St. Peter Parish, Petersham, and Our Lady, Queen of Heaven Mission, South Royalston. On July 1, 2009, he became pastor of those north county parishes and mission.
In 2012 he became an assistant chaplain at UMass/Memorial Hospital and associate pastor at St. Peter and St. Joan of Arc parishes, all in Worcester, with residence at St. Joan of Arc.
On July 1, 2014, he became pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in East Brookfield and administrator of St. Joseph Parish in North Brookfield. On July 1, 2016, he became pastor of St. Joseph’s while remaining pastor of St. John the Baptist. He is retiring effective July 1.
Father Joseph M. Nally
Father Joseph M. Nally, the son of Joseph M. and Florence (Scales) Nally, was born in Worcester on June 11, 1944. He graduated from St. John High School, Shrewsbury, in 1962 and Assumption College in 1967, and studied for the priesthood at St. Mary Seminary, Baltimore, finishing in 1972.
He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Bernard J. Flanagan on May 5, 1972, at St. Stephen Church in Worcester.
He was associate pastor of St. Bernard Parish, Worcester; Notre Dame Parish, Southbridge; Our Lady of the Angels Parish, Worcester, and St. Luke the Evangelist Parish, Westborough, before being appointed pastor of St. Joseph Parish, North Brookfield, on November 11, 1984.
He was named pastor of St. Joan of Arc Parish, Worcester, on June 30, 1989.
He was assigned as pastor of St. Stephen Parish in Worcester on June 14, 2002.
On July 1, 2010, he was appointed diocesan minister to priests with residence at St. Ann Parish in North Oxford, where he was administrator from July 1-Aug. 13, 2010.
On July 1, 2014, he became pastor at St. John, Guardian of Our Lady Parish in Clinton. In July 2019 he became a senior priest, with residence at St. George Parish in Worcester. He is retiring effective July 1.
NEW PASTORS
Father Frederick D. Fraini III
Father Frederick D. Fraini III was born June 23, 1981, in Worcester, the son of Frederick D. and Carol F. (Falvey) Fraini. He graduated from Auburn High School in 1999 and studied at Quinsigamond Community College and Worcester State University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 2003.
He studied for the priesthood at St. Mary Seminary in Baltimore and then continued at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he received his master of divinity degree.
Bishop Robert J. McManus ordained him a transitional deacon on June 2, 2007, at St. Joseph Parish in Auburn, and a priest on June 7, 2008, in St. Paul Cathedral.
Following ordination, he served as associate pastor of Our Lady Immaculate and St. Francis of Assisi parishes in Athol, St. Peter Parish in Petersham and Our Lady Queen of Heaven Mission in South Royalston.
In 2010 he became associate pastor of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary and Sacred Heart of Jesus parishes in Gardner.
Father Fraini became pastor of St. Anna Parish, Leominster on July 6, 2013. In September 2019 he took a personal leave of absence from priestly ministry. He has been serving as sacramental minister to North American Martyrs Parish in Auburn and, effective July 1, he will serve as pastor there.
Father Daniel E.
Moreno
Father Daniel E. 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 degree 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 degree in sacred theology and his master of divinity degree at St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore. Bishop Robert J. McManus ordained him a priest June 20, 2015, in St. Paul Cathedral.
After his ordination he was associate pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Millville and Good Shepherd Parish in Linwood.
On July 1, 2018, Father Moreno became administrator of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Dudley, where he had served as a seminarian. Effective July 1, he will serve as pastor there.
Administrators
Father William C. Schipper
Father William C. Schipper was born June 20, 1952, in Batesville, Indiana, and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio.
He made his first profession of monastic vows in 1990 and was ordained a priest on June 5, 1994. He taught, had administrative duties and was a faculty resident in residence halls at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota.
He came to the Worcester Diocese as a Benedictine priest from St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville. On May 15, 2019, he was incardinated as a priest of the Diocese of Worcester by Bishop Robert J. McManus.
Father Schipper was named administrator of Mary, Queen of the Rosary Parish in Spencer in 2017 and on July 1, 2019, became pastor there. Effective July 1, he will also serve as administrator to St. Joseph Parish in North Brookfield and St. John the Baptist Parish in East Brookfield.
Father Alan J.
Martineau
Father Alan J. Martineau, son of Jeffrey and Lynne Martineau, was born May 23, 1991. He was brought up in Spencer, at St. Mary Parish, now Mary, Queen of the Rosary Parish, since a merger with Our Lady of the Rosary Parish.
A graduate of St. John High School, Shrewsbury, he began his college studies at Assumption College. He participated in the Basselin Scholars Program at Theological College at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he got his bachelor’s in 2013 and his licentiate in 2014, both in philosophy.
In Rome, he received his bachelor’s in theology from Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in 2017, and priestly formation at Pontifical North American College.
He was ordained a transitional deacon on Sept. 28, 2017, at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and ordained a priest on June 23, 2018, at St. Paul Cathedral.
In the summer of 2018 he was associate pastor of St. Anne Parish in Shrewsbury before returning to Rome that fall to continue studies at Pontifical Gregorian University for his licentiate in canon law. His work for that degree is to be completed by the end of this month.
Effective July 1, he will be administrator of St. Paul Parish in Warren and St. Stanislaus Parish in West Warren, and Defender of the Bond in the diocesan Marriage Tribunal.