St. Stephen's Parish welcomes new parochial vicar

WARWICK — This past September, the pastor of Warwick's Roman Catholic Church of St. Stephen, the First Martyr, the Rev. Jack Arlotta, broke the news that Parochial Vicar, the Rev. Angelo Micciulla, had been appointed administrator, a short step before becoming pastor, of Holy Family Parish in Staten Island.

On Dec. 1, the Rev. Lorenzo Laboy arrived for his new assignment to replace Father Micciulla as parochial vicar. (A parochial vicar is a priest who is assigned to assist the pastor in the pastoral ministry of a parish.)

Laboy completed his theological studies at St. Joseph's Seminary and was ordained in 2013.

He was appointed to St. Stephen's by Cardinal Timothy Dolan after serving at his first parish, St. Elizabeth's Church in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan.

The son of Anselmo Laboy and Brunilda Acosta, he is the fourth of seven children and was raised in St. John Vianney parish in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx. He attended elementary school in the Bronx and graduated from Rice High School in Manhattan.

The early callingLaboy heard a call to the priesthood at a young age but dismissed it because at that time his true passion was to be an actor. And he also thought he would marry one day.

He earned a bachelor's degree in English and theater from Fordham University in 2003 and later became a member of the Screen Actors Guild.

His acting credits include off-Broadway theater as well as being an extra in the 2006 biographical film "El Cantante."

'Compelled by God's word'Laboy was teaching seventh-grade science and religion at Sacred Heart School in the Bronx when a fellow Fordham alumnus encouraged him to read the Bible, cover to cover.

"From that moment on, " he said, "my whole life was turned upside down, compelled by God's word."

Shortly afterwards, while attending Mass, the call to the priesthood he heard in childhood returned.

"As the priest was saying the words of consecration," he recalled. "I saw myself in an instant doing what he was doing. I was overwhelmed and kept it in my heart."

According to an article that appeared in Catholic New York shortly after his ordination, that childhood call to the priesthood may have been evident when as a 13-year-old altar server, he inadvertently upstaged the priest at the end of Mass by administering the final blessing.

- Roger Gavan