Ten Permanent Deacons to Be Ordained June 18 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Cardinal Dolan will ordain 10 men as permanent deacons for the archdiocese at a Mass of Ordination in St. Patrick’s Cathedral Saturday, June 18, at 9 a.m.

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Deacon Daniel Condon, 63, a retired NYPD sergeant, is a parishioner of Immaculate Conception in Stony Point, where he has served as lector, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion and catechist. He is employed by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as an environmental health and safety manager. He remains an active firefighter with the Stony Point Volunteer Fire Department. He and his wife Barbara, who have been married for 29 years, are the parents of four grown children: Ryan, Tara, Liam and Aidan.

Deacon Escolastico Daniel Corniell Tejada, 53, is a parishioner of Ascension in Manhattan. He has served as lector, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion and a member of the RCIA team and the parish’s Charismatic Renewal group. For the archdiocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry, he taught classes for the training of lectors and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion. He served as coordinator for the Emmaus Brotherhood at Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Manhattan and later became part of the archdiocesan coordination team for the same brotherhood. A native of Nagua, Dominican Republic, he is a master barber in Manhattan.

Deacon Douglas FitzMorris, 63, is a parishioner of St. Patrick in Yorktown Heights, where he has served on the pastoral council and as lector, usher and catechist. He is an alumnus of LeMoyne College and Brooklyn Law School. He and his wife Marion have been married for 34 years and raised four children: Christina, Doug, Joanna and Katherine. He began his legal career as an assistant district attorney in Westchester County. After 12 years in public service, he moved to the private sector as a trial defense lawyer in medical malpractice litigation. In 2020, he began teaching theology at Cardinal Spellman High School, the Bronx. He is active in the Cursillo movement and serves as chairperson of the archdiocese’s Cursillo School of Leaders (English). He has also served as a volunteer at Hebrew Home in Riverdale, Fred’s Food Pantry at St. Peter Episcopal Church in Peekskill and Ride Connect/Family Services of Westchester. He has completed studies for a master’s degree in theology at St. Joseph’s Seminary and College, Dunwoodie.

Deacon Lucas Garcia, 55, a U.S. Navy veteran, is a parishioner of St. Anastasia in Harriman, where he serves as lector, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion and acolyte. He is also responsible for scheduling lectors and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion for the Spanish Mass. He teaches eighth-grade religious education class in English, as well as the RCIA, in Spanish. His wife, Angela, as well as other members of his family are very involved in parish life. Retired from NYCHA, he works as a private elevator inspector. 

Deacon Robert Leavy, 62, is a parishioner of Holy Name of Jesus in Otisville where he has served on the parish council and as catechist, lector and extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus. He and his wife, Yolanda, have been married for 15 years. After making a Cursillo weekend in spring 2009, he pursued the permanent diaconate.

Deacon Steven Morgante, 58, is a parishioner of St. Patrick in Yorktown Heights, where he serves as lector, catechist, acolyte and a two-term trustee. He and his wife, Linda, have been married for 32 years and have raised four children: Michael, Daniella Rock, Matthew and Christina, and have one grandchild, Joseph Steven Rock Jr. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Pace University and a master’s in theology from St. Joseph’s Seminary and College, Dunwoodie.

Deacon Anthony Reino, M.D., 65, is a parishioner of St. John and St. Mary in Chappaqua. A surgeon, he has worked at Mount Sinai Medical Center and the James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the Bronx since 1992. He became the director of his department in 2005, and in 2012, he advanced to the chief of staff at the VA Hospital. He is a professor at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he teaches medical students, residents and fellows. He has used his medical expertise in various ministries, including public health service in Latin America, nursing homes, and palliative care units in the United States and abroad, and on the front lines during the coronavirus pandemic. He earned a master’s in  molecular biology and biochemistry at Yale University. 

Deacon Paul Reisman, 60, is a parishioner of Immaculate Conception and Assumption of Our Lady in Tuckahoe, where he has served as a lector, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, catechist and moderator of the Pope St. John Paul II Men’s Group. He is a fourth-degree member of the Knights of Columbus and the past grand knight of the Rev. John A. Keogh Council 2108. He earned his undergraduate degree at Iona College and his law degree from Pace University School of Law. He recently earned a master’s in theology at St. Joseph’s Seminary and College, Dunwoodie. He has worked in the title insurance industry for more than 38 years and is the chief New York State agency underwriting counsel for Old Republic National Title Insurance Company.  He and his wife, Maria, have been married for 26 years and have four children: Mary Grace, Annalisa, Charles and Dominic.

Deacon Rafael Taveras, 58, is a parishioner of St. Jude in Manhattan, where he has served for 43 years, coordinating and serving as lector, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, in ministry of hospitality/usher and as a catechist for the religious education program. He and his wife, Melida, have been married for 37 years and raised two daughters, Disnayra and Melissa, and a son, Wilmer. He is an editorial assistant at Radio Maria (Spanish) in New York. Since 1995 he has collaborated with the archdiocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry on La Hora Católica, a radio program. He has served as coordinator of religious education of St. Peter and St. Denis parish in Yonkers and St. Catherine of Genoa in Manhattan, and as a secretary and bookkeeping assistant at Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Bernard in Manhattan. He volunteered as archdiocesan lay director of the Cursillo Movement of Christianity and coordinator of the archdiocesan Our Lady of Altagracia committee.

Deacon John Tremblay, 60, is a parishioner of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Shrub Oak, where he has served as catechist, lector, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion and acolyte, and is a founding member of the “seTon Men” (men’s ministry) and a professed member of the Secular Franciscan order. He and his wife, Margie, raised three daughters: Danielle, Michelle and Meghan, and have eight grandchildren. He has owned Sigma Tremblay HVAC company since 1986.