Glenmary Priest Ordained
New York Native Will Serve Arkansas Missions 

Father Neil Pezzulo was ordained a Glenmary priest at a Sept. 24 liturgy celebrated by Bishop J. Kendrick Williams of the Diocese of Lexington, Ky. Following the ordination, Father Neil posed with Glenmary leadership. From left: Brother Jack Henn, second vice president; Father Dan Dorsey, first vice president and Father Jerry Dorn, president.

CINCINNATI (October 4, 1999)ÊOn Sept. 24, another chapter in the life of Glenmary Father Neil Pezzulo began. Father Neil, a native of Schenectady, N.Y., was ordained a priest for the Cincinnati-based Glenmary Home Missioners by Bishop J. Kendrick Williams of the Diocese of Lexington, Ky. The ordination took place at Sacred Heart Church in Fairfield, Ohio.

Father Neil has compared his journey to priesthood and Glenmary to a “mystery novel” whose chapters continue to unfold as God’s plan for him is revealed in stages. His ordination, the first in the Glenmary community since 1993, is a continuation of the journey which formally began with his entry into the community in 1992.

Father Neil will spend the next two months in Mexico attending a Cuernavaca language institute learning Spanish in preparation for his ministry at two Glenmary Arkansas missions: Holy Cross Church in Crossett and Holy Spirit Church in Hamburg. Having spent part of his novitiate in Crossett and Hamburg in 1993, Father Neil says he is looking forward to returning to these missions and “especially the wonderful people in both communities.”

After his candidacy year in Hartford, Ky., Father Neil attended DeSales School of Theology and the Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C. His summers have been spent preparing for missionary work. He worked in the rural Glenmary missions in Jefferson, N.C. (St. Francis of Assisi, 1994), Spencer, W.Va., (Holy Redeemer Church, 1995) and in Russellville, Ala., (Good Shepherd Church, 1998).

While in Washington, he worked with the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker Community in outreach ministries. It was there, Father Neil says, he was taught about “perseverance, respect and making the Gospel message come alive through action.” For the last nine months of his preparation, he ministered as a deacon to the Covenant Community of Jesus the Good Shepherd in Dunkirk, Md. Father Neil returned to the parish the weekend of Oct. 2 to celebrate a liturgy with the parish.

He took part in the Appalachian Ministries Education Resource Center program in the summer of 1996 and the following summer he completed his clinical pastoral education in Chicago.

Father Neil made his first oath to the Glenmary community in 1994 and his perpetual oath in 1998. Presently, Glenmary has 62 priests, 18 brothers and two men in formation. The Catholic society of priests and brothers staffs 70 missions in 15 dioceses in the rural areas of Appalachia, the South and the Southwest.