May 18, 2016 Ogdensburg - After the May 12 meeting of the Committee on Assignments on May 12, 2016, Bishop Terry R. LaValley announced the following assignment changes for priests to take effect June 29, 2016: • Father Mark R. Reilly, pastor of St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s Church in Massena has also been named pastor of the Church of Sacred Heart and St. Lawrence in Massena. Father Tojo Chacko, a Herald of Good News priest, will be parochial vicar St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s Church and also at the Church of Sacred Heart and St. Lawrence. • Father Donald J. Manfred, pastor of the Church of Sacred Heart and St. Lawrence in Massena, has been named pastor of St. Stephen’s Church in Croghan and St. Francis Solanus Church in Harrisville. • Father Daniel L. Chapin, pastor of St. Stephen’s Church in Croghan and St. Francis Solanus Church in Harrisville, will be retiring with expected acceptance in mission work as an associate with Maryknoll. • Father Theodore A. Crosby, pastor of St. Bernard’s Church in Lyon Mountain and St. Edmund’s Church in Ellenburg, has been named pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in West Chazy and Sacred Heart Church in Chazy. •Father J. Roger McGuinness, pastor of St. Joseph’s and Sacred Heart, will be retiring. • Father Thomas J. Higman, parochial vicar at St. Bernard’s Church in Saranac Lake, St. John of the Wilderness in Lake Clear, St. Paul’s Church in Bloomingdale and Mission at Assumption in Gabriels, has been named administrator of St. Bernard’s Church in Lyon Mountain and St. Edmund’s Church in Ellenburg. Fr. J. Roger McGuinness
A native of New York City, Father McGuinness was born July 11, 1939. He studied for the priesthood at Wadhams Hall Seminary College in Ogdensburg and Christ the King Seminary in Olean before his ordination May 22, 1965 by Bishop Thomas Donnellan. He later received a master’s degree in counseling from SUNY Plattsburgh, a master of divinity degree from Christ the King and a master’s degree in Christian Spirituality from Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. During his early years as a priest, Father McGuinness served as an assistant pastor at St. Mary’s in Potsdam, in Lake Placid, at St. John’s in Plattsburgh and at St. Patrick’s in Watertown. While in Watertown, he also served as Newman chaplain at Jefferson Community College. In 1973, Father McGuinness was named pastor in Raymondville. One year later he was appointed to the faculty at Wadhams Hall Seminary College. For 16 years he served at the diocesan seminary as academic dean, director of the Community Service program, psychology teacher and spiritual director. After leaving Wadhams Hall in 1989, Father McGuinness served as administrator in Keeseville and then pastor of Our Lady of Victory in Plattsburgh from 1990 to 1995 when he was named pastor of St. John XXIII College Community. In 2004, he was named pastor at St. John’s in Plattsburgh, a position he held until being appointed pastor in West Chazy and then Chazy. Through the years, Father Mcguire’s has served the diocese as vocation director, director of campus ministry and chair of the Committee for the Continuing Education of Clergy. He has been a teacher in the deacon formation program, Formation for Ministry program and has given missions and retreats and led clergy conferences in this diocese as well as in other states and Canada. Father McGuinness has also taught at Plattsburgh State University in both the Upward Bound Program and the Honors Program for the past several years. He has also been President of the Plattsburgh Interfaith Council for many years and is still a member of the council. He was born in Ogdensburg March 11, 1941, and studied for the priesthood at Wadhams Hall Seminary College, Christ the King Seminary in Olean, N. Y. and the North American College in Rome, Italy. He was ordained Dec. 17, 1966, at St. Peter’s Basilica by Bishop Francis F. Reh. Father Shurtleff has served as assistant pastor in Brownville, Holy Family in Watertown and Sacred Heart in Massena. From 1972 to 1981, he served as bishop’s secretary and assistant chancellor for the Diocese of Ogdensburg. In 1992 he became pastor at St. Joseph’s in Malone, a position he held until his current assignment at Notre Dame. Father Shurtleff also served the diocese as director of the Department of Worship. Father Donald J. Manfred Born Dec. 12, 1940, in Somerville, Mass., Father Manfred grew up in the Potsdam area. He began studies for the priesthood at Wadhams Hall Seminary and also studied at Christ the King Seminary in Olean, N.Y., and received a master’s degree in history from Potsdam State University. He was ordained May 20, 1967 at St. Mary’s Cathedral by Bishop Thomas Donnellan. Father Manfred served as an assistant pastor at St. Patrick’s in Watertown and at St. Alphonsus in Tupper Lake. In November, 1972, Father Manfred was names assistant pastor of St. Patrick’s in Watertown. He has also served as administrator in Dannemora and pastor in North Lawrence and at St. Alphonsus in Tupper Lake before moving to Massena. The priest was appointed director of the newly formed permanent deacon formation program in 1976 and served in that position until 1985. He has also served the diocese as director of deacon personnel and continuing formation, as a member of the Catholic Charities Board of Trustees and dean of St. Lawrence Deanery. Father Daniel L. Chapin Born Nov. 13, 1946 in Malone, Father Chapin grew up in North Bangor. He studied for the priesthood at Wadhams Hall Seminary and St. Bernard’s Seminary in Rochester before his ordination May 13, 1972 by Bishop Stanislaus J. Brzana. The priest served as an assistant pastor at St. Mary’s in Ogdensburg before beginning ten years of missionary work with the Ogdensburg Peruvian Apostolate, serving at St. Martin de Porras Parish in Mollendo, Peru, from 1976 to 1986. He was pastor from 1981 until returning to the United States. Upon returning to the U.S., Father Chapin again served as parochial vicar at the cathedral for a short time until taking part in a sabbatical year at the Jesuit Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass. While on sabbatical, he worked as a chaplain intern at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Brighton, Mass., and then at Hotel Dieu and Kingston General Hospitals in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Upon his return to the diocese, he served as parochial vicar at Holy Family and priest chaplain at Jefferson Community College in Watertown until being named pastor in Clayton and LaFargeville in 1989. In 2000, he was named pastor in Gouverneur with added responsibilities as pastor in Edwards in 2004. He became pastor in Croghan in 2006 with additional responsibilities as pastor in Harrisville in 2013. Father Joseph A. Morgan Named Vicar General in 2013, Father Morgan had previously served the diocese as Episcopal Vicar for Clergy, Pastoral Personnel, and Seminarians for the Diocese of Ogdensburg from 2001 to 2005. Prior to that, from 1997, his title was Director of Priest and Pastoral Personnel; two years later was given added responsibilities as Director of Seminarians. Father Morgan was born June 13, 1955, in Olean, N.Y., and moved with his family to Watertown as a child. Father Morgan has served as an associate pastor in Peru and Notre Dame in Ogdensburg. an administrator in Ticonderoga, in Brownville and at Sacred Heart in Massena, pastor in West Chazy and pastor in Champlain. He moved to Lake Placid in 2005 to serve as pastor at St. Agnes Parish with additional responsibilities as pastor in Keene in 2006. In addition, the priest served as vocation director from 1985 to 1987, served on the Priests’ Personnel Committee and has been a Defender of the Bond for the Marriage Tribunal since shortly after ordination. Father Mark R. Reilly
Father Reilly was born Dec. 7, 1963 in Syracuse. Upon graduating from high school in 1981, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and entered LeMoyne College. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant upon graduation from LeMoyne in 1985 and was on active duty from 1986 to 1992. He entered Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, in 1992 and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Ogdensburg Aug. 9, 1997, by Bishop Paul S. Loverde. Father Reilly’s first assignment was as parochial vicar in Saranac Lake. In 1999 he became spiritual Director at Immaculate Heart Central Jr./Sr. High school in Watertown and in 2006, was named pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Evans Mills, St. Theresa of Avila Church in Theresa, and St. Joseph Church in Philadelphia. In 2010, Father Reilly was named pastor in Saranac Lake with parishes at Lake Clear and Bloomingdale and mission in Gabriels. In 2005-06, he was called up for active duty as a navy chaplain to serve with the Marines in Iraq, and again was activated for service from August 2012 to August 2013 in Djibouti, Africa. He retired from the Navy Reserves on June 1, 2014. Father Theodore A. Crosby A native of Phelps, N.Y., he was born March 12, 1970. After earning a bachelor’s degree at St. John Fisher in Rochester, he began studies for the priesthood at Wadhams Hall Seminary in Ogdensburg from 1992-94. Father Crosby served as parochial vicar at Holy Family in Watertown, in Lowville, Glenfield and Houseville; and for the Malone Catholic Parishes before being named administrator in Lyon Mountain in January, 2007 and pastor in June of that year. Father Thomas J. Higman He spent his first two years as a priest as a parochial vicar for the Malone Catholic Parishes. A native of Carthage, he was born Oct. 22, 1985. He studied for the priesthood at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, before his May 26, 2012 ordination by Bishop LaValley. Father Higman currently serves as a member of the Council of Priests. |
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Father McGuinness is retiring after serving as pastor in West Chazy since 2006 with additional responsibilities as pastor in Chazy since 2013.
Father Shurtleff, who is retiring, has served as pastor of Notre Dame in Ogdensburg since 1999.
Father Manfred, new pastor in Croghan and Harrisville, has been pastor of Sacred Heart in Massena since 1998 and pastor of St. Lawrence in Louisville since 2002. In 2011, the two parishes were merged and he now serves as pastor of the Church of Sacred Heart and St Lawrence.
Father Chapin, pastor in Croghan and in Harrisville, is retiring but plans to continue active ministry as a Maryknoll associate.
Father Morgan, rector of the cathedral since 2010, will take on added responsibilities as pastor of Notre Dame Church in Ogdensburg. 
Father Reilly, pastor at St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s in Massena since 2014, will take on added responsibilities as pastor of Sacred Heart and St. Lawrence in Massena 
Father Crosby, new pastor in West Chazy and Chazy, has been pastor in Lyon Mountain since 2007 and in Ellenburg since 2009.
Father Higman, new administrator in Lyon Mountain and Ellenburg, has served as parochial vicar at St. Bernard’s in Saranac Lake in 2014. 