Fr. Ezio Marchetto, the pastor of the national Italian parish Holy Rosary Church, has been elevated by his Scalabrinian Order to Provincial Bursar for the St. Charles Borromeo Province. He will be moving to New York City in early February. Fr. Marchetto has announced that two new priests have been assigned to Holy Rosary Church: Fr. Peter Paul Polo and Fr. Andrei Zanoni.
Fr. Peter Paul Polo
Fr. Peter Paul Polo was born on February 20, 1943 in Romano d’Ezzelino, Vicenza. In 1965, after his early seminary formation in Italy, he was sent to the United States where he completed his theological studies in Staten Island, NY. Ordained to the priesthood on June 15, 1968, he was assigned to the North American Scalabrinian Province of St Charles. While serving as assistant pastor in several parishes, Fr. Peter obtained a master’s degree in Italian Literature and Romance Languages in 1978, and a master’s degree in Religious Education and Biblical Studies in 1981. Soon after, Fr. Peter was asked to take on more important roles: from 1987 to1990, he served as Provincial Councilor; from 1989-1990, he served as Dean and Episcopal Vicar in Diocese of Providence, RI; and from 1990 to 1996, he was appointed and served as Provincial Vicar and Treasurer while residing at the Provincial Residence in New York City (NYC). From 1990 to 1998, Fr. Peter was the Executive Secretary of the American Committee on Italian Migration (ACIM) and the NYC Italian Apostolate Coordinator while residing at the Scalabrinian Seminary in Jamaica, NY. For his next assignment, Fr. Peter was called to Rome, and from 1998 to 2009, he worked for the General Administration of the Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles/Scalabrinians, serving as General Secretary and Procurator. In 2007, Fr. Peter suffered a stroke and spent time in rehabilitation in Rome. In 2010, he returned to the Province of St. Charles as Chaplain of Scalabrini Villa Nursing Home in North Kingstown, RI and was appointed Local Superior of the New England Scalabrinian Community and Spiritual Advisor to the Scalabrini-Dukcevich Center for Migrants in Providence, RI.
Fr. Andrei Zanon
Fr. Andrei Zanon was born in Joaçaba, in the state of Santa Catarina – Brazil, on March 6, 1990. The son of Terezinha Prigol and Davide Zanon, he is the youngest of three brothers. His great-grandparents came from the Veneto region in Northern Italy. He entered the seminary of the Missionaries of St. Charles/Scalabrinians in 2008 in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil and on June 1, 2013, he took his first religious vows. June 1st is a very special date for the Scalabrinian Congregation since that date commemorates the death of its founder, Blessed Giovanni Battista Scalabrini. To continue his studies in preparation for the priesthood, Fr. Andrei was sent to study theology in the city of Bogotá, Colombia where he was ordained deacon on June 1, 2019. During his first three years of theology as part of his pastoral ministry, Fr. Andrei worked at the Scalabrinian Web Radio in Spanish. Before his ordination to the priesthood, Fr. Andrei spent his one pastoral year helping parishes on the outskirts of Valencia, Venezuela and Bogotá, Colombia. Fr. Andrei was ordained a priest on December 21, 2019 in Herval D´Oeste, Santa Catarina, Brazil, near his hometown, and after his ordination, Fr. Andrei began his priestly ministry at the parish of Our Lady of Pompeii. in New York City. Fr. Andrei describes himself thus: “I am excited to learn, to give my best in this new mission in which I have a lot to learn considering that I am young in the mission and with little experience, some of my characteristics have always been availability and punctuality, also responsibility and joy.” As a motto, Fr. Andrei chose this phrase of St. Óscar Romero (Archbishop): “La oración es la cumbre del desarrollo humano. El hombre no vale por lo que tiene, sino por lo que es.” (Translation: “Prayer is the peak of human development. Man does not have worth because of what he has, rather for what he is.”)