Pastoral Staff and Clergy
The Parish Staff is ready to welcome & assist you!
Office Phone: (203) 377-3133
Pastor: Father Joseph A. Marcello, Ext. 101
In Residence: Father Joseph O. Ocran
Deacon of the Parish: Deacon Patrick Toole
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Director of Parish Operations
Robert J. Cavallero, Ext. 102
Director of Sacred Music & Organist:
Zac Schurman, Ext. 105
Director of Religious Education:
Leah DeVito, Ext. 106
Director of Pastoral Care:
Mary Ellen Kovacs, Ext. 104
Director of Communications & Digital Media:
Kate Gombos, Ext. 107
Parish Office Manager:
Ellen Moran, Ext. 101
Parish Accountant:
Elena Oppedisano
Coordinator of Youth Ministry:
Raymond Kingsbury
Coordinator for Social Justice & Charitable Outreach:
Eric Vogel
Safe Environment Coordinator:
Denise Huertas, Ext. 101
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Although the following are not members of the Parish Staff per se, the names of these key people in parish leadership are provided here for easy reference:
Lay Members of the Parish Corporation:
Ross Bacarella and Jeff Wright
Parish Financial Council Chair:
John W. Diercksen
Pastoral Advisory Council Chair:
Atty. Joseph R. Tristine
Principal of St. Catherine of Siena School:
Michelle Powrie 203-375-1947
Our Pastor: Father Joseph A. Marcello
The fifth and current Pastor of the Parish of Saint Catherine of Siena is Father Joseph A. Marcello. Father Marcello was installed as our Pastor on Laetare Sunday, March 15, 2015, by the Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano, Bishop of Bridgeport.
Father Marcello is a native of southwestern Connecticut, having grown up in nearby Huntington and Monroe. An alumnus of St. Catherine of Siena School (1990) and St. Joseph High School in Trumbull (1994), he was graduated from Fairfield University in 1998, having majored in English literature and composition, with a minor in communication.
Following a year of philosophy studies at the St. John Fisher Seminary Residence in Stamford, Father Marcello’s priestly formation took place at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. His thesis in sacramental theology, entitled “Beauty, Reverence, and the Objectivity of Catholic Worship in the Writings of John Henry Newman” was completed in 2003.
Following his priestly ordination on May 17, 2003, Father Marcello served for two years as Parochial Vicar at St. Joseph Parish in Shelton, and then, from 2005 to 2009, he taught theology and served as Spiritual Director of St. Joseph High School in Trumbull.
In 2009, Father Marcello was appointed Priest Secretary to the Most Reverend William E. Lori, Bishop of Bridgeport, a service he continued for the first years of Archbishop Lori’s service in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, following the Archbishop’s appointment there in 2012.
Father Marcello has also served the Diocese of Bridgeport as Vice Chancellor, Vicar for Clergy, Director of Seminarians, secretary of the Presbyteral Council, and on the formation faculty of the diocese’s Permanent Diaconate Formation Program. He currently serves as a member of the Presbyteral Council, of the diocese’s Building and Sacred Arts Commission, the Liturgical Commission, and the Vocation Admissions & Advisory Board.
Father Marcello’s parents, Joseph and Ellen Marcello, live in Monroe, and his sister Lisa, his brother-in-law James, and his two nieces live in Huntington.
Parish Deacon: Deacon Patrick Toole
Deacon Patrick Toole was ordained a Deacon on June 11, 2011, and served at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Fairfield until 2015, before coming to St. Catherine’s.
Deacon Toole was appointed Chancellor of the Diocese of Bridgeport in July, 2022, having previously served the diocese as Episcopal Delegate for Administration. As the administrative leader responsible for the oversight of diocesan departments including Human Resources, Technology Services, Safe Environments, Real Estate, Catholic Cemeteries, Strategic and Pastoral Planning and Communications, he works closely with Bishop Caggiano, whom he also serves as a liturgical master of ceremonies.
Deacon Toole retired from IBM in December 2017 after serving as senior integration executive of The Weather Company, an IBM business. His appointment coincided with IBM’s acquisition of The Weather Company’s product and technology businesses in order to accelerate its Watson business strategy. After joining IBM in 1984, he held a variety of executive and management positions, including the global chief information officer, general manager of technical support services and general manager of intellectual property.
Deacon Toole holds a master’s degree in business administration from Queens University of Charlotte, N.C. He has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and serves on the university’s College of Engineering advisory council.
His community commitments include service as Chairman of the Board of the Center for Ignatian Spirituality at Fairfield University; Vice Chair of the Board for Unshattered, an enterprise partner of Hoving Home program for women recovering from addiction; and a member of the Board of Directors of St. Joseph High School in Trumbull.
He is a professed member of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCDS) and serves as the spiritual assistant to the Mother of Sorrows OCDS community. Deacon Toole is a member of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, and also of the Knights of Columbus.
Deacon Toole and his wife, Lyndy, who serves as a music minister at St. Luke Parish in Westport, are the parents of five grown children. They have five grandchildren.
