By ANTHONY BOTTAN
“I was able to learn about the parish when I spoke there last winter,” he said. “There was a very good spirit and I was able to feel their deep love for the faith. I felt a connection.”
Figliozzi said when there are openings for a pastor position, letters are sent from the diocese to eligible priests and they can write in for the position they are interested in. The bishop then meets with a personnel board, he said, and appoints the new pastors. It was the parishioners’ dedication to the church, he said, that encouraged him to apply for the position. “I am looking forward to forming the body of Christ in the community with the parishioners and my staff,” he said.
Born and raised in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn, Figliozzi attended St. Edmund’s Grammar School, Cathedral Prep Seminary and Cathedral College in Douglaston, Queens. He spent 17 years as the pastor at Our Holy Redeemer in Freeport, where he said he experienced how deeply rooted the Catholic faith is in the Hispanic community. “I very much appreciated the presence of Hispanic immigrants for their love of the church and outward expression of faith,” he said.
However, Figliozzi added that during his brief time at St. Catherine of Sienna, he has experienced the same love and passion for the church from the Italian community in Franklin Square.
Figliozzi said his biggest challenge as the new pastor will be maintaining the unity and focus of the parish to live an authentic Christian life. The parish has 4,500 families.
The new pastor at St. Catherine’s said that his family always placed God first and his parents instilled him in a deep respect for Sunday. “They helped me understand the beauty and consistency in the Catholic faith,” he said. “It helped me understand what life means.”
Before joining St. Catherine’s, Figliozzi worked in the Chancery Office for the Diocese of Rockville Centre for three years. One summer in the 1980s, when he worked for a missionary in Bedford-Stuyvesant Brooklyn, Figliozzi said he met Mother Theresa and served as her chauffeur during her time in New York. “It was a tremendously humbling experience,” he said.
Figliozzi said the parish is actively recruiting new students for the church’s school, and will set up a booth at this year’s festival in August so parents can meet the new principal. “We want to tell the community about the Catholic education,” he said, “and how it can help form their children, intellectually and educationally.”
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