Herald Staff Report
Herald Staff Report
(From the issue of 6/12/03)

Bishop Paul S. Loverde recently appointed seven new pastors and administrators. Following is brief biography of each:

Father Robert J. DeMartino, newly appointed administrator of St. Peter Mission in Washington, was born Oct. 2, 1951, in New York City, the son of Rose and Joseph DeMartino. The family moved to Virginia and became members of St. James Parish in Falls Church in 1961.

He graduated from Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington in 1969. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from George Mason University in Fairfax and a master’s of divinity from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md.

He was ordained a deacon on Nov. 16, 1991, and to the priesthood by Bishop Keating on May 16, 1992. He has served as parochial vicar at Good Shepherd Church in Mount Vernon, St. Andrew the Apostle Church in Clifton and most recently at St. Philip Church in Falls Church.

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Father George J. Griffin, newly appointed pastor of St. Isidore the Farmer Parish, Orange, was born Aug. 15, 1937, in Midland, Pa., where he attended Presentation Elementary School and Lincoln High School.

He graduated from St. Francis College in Loretto, Pa., in 1969, and the Washington Theological Coalition in Silver Spring in 1973. He was ordained on May 19, 1973, by then Richmond Bishop John J. Russell.

His parochial vicar assignments included: St. Philip, Falls Church; Sacred Heart, Winchester; Good Shepherd, Alexandria; and St. Leo the Great, Fairfax. He was appointed pastor of Holy Family Parish in 1983 and Good Shepherd Parish in 1991. Bishop Keating appointed him dean of Deanery V in 1987.

Father John Marino, O.F.M., of Everett, Mass., was born on Jan. 9, 1954, to Salvatore and Lillian Marino.

He attended the Hamilton School and the Parlin Junior High School in Everett. Father John graduated from Everett High School in 1972. He received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Suffolk University in 1977 and a master’s degree in school administration from Salem State College in 1981.

After teaching at the Devens School in Everett for four years, he was received into the Franciscan Order at St. Francis Friary in Brookline, Mass., on June 17, 1982. He professed first vows on June 4, 1983, before Father Alban Maguire, O.F.M., at St. Francis, Brookline, Mass., and professed final vows on June 20, 1987, at St. Francis Church, on W. 31st Street, in New York City, before Father Anthony Carrozzo, O.F.M.

His philosophy studies were done at St. John’s University and theology at the Washington Theological Union in Silver Spring, Md. He was ordained to the priesthood in on Sept. 10, 1988, by Archbishop Samuel Carter at St. Camillus Church in Silver Spring.

Father John’s ministerial activities included campus ministry at Siena College, Loudonville, N.Y.; initial information, including a term as novice master at St. Francis in Providence, R.I.; associate at St. Anthony Shrine, Boston; and his most recent assignment as parochial vicar at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, Triangle, effective June 29, 2003.

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Father David L. Martin, newly appointed administrator of St. Jude Mission in Fredericksburg, was born May 10, 1945, in Pittsfield, Mass., the son of Edward and Frieda Martin. After graduating from St. Joseph’s Catholic Central in Pittsfield, he entered the Stigmatine novitiate.

He received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Catholic University in Washington in 1969 and returned to Massachusetts to study for his master’s of divinity at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton. He was ordained a Stigmatine priest in 1973.

Father Martin was assigned to All Saints Parish in Manassas where he served until 1977, when he was reassigned to Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Milford, Mass.

Father Martin was assigned to the Espousal Conference Center in Waltham, Mass., in 1978, where he served as community superior and director of the youth and divorced/separated/widows and widowers program. He served as Stigmatine novice director and professed students director at St. Joseph’s College Seminary, Mountain View, Calif., from 1981-85.

During his time in California, Father Martin received master’s degrees in counseling from Santa Clara University and applied spirituality from the University of San Francisco.

Father Martin was incardinated into the Arlington Diocese on Feb. 15, 1991. His diocesan assignments have included: St. Mary Parish in Fredericksburg, 1987-88; St. John the Evangelist, Warrenton, 1988-89; St. Anthony of Padua, Falls Church, 1989-93; Nativity Parish, Burke, 1993-95; St. John Parish, Orange, from 1995 until the parish combined with St. Mark in Gordonsville in 2002 to form St. Isidore the Farmer Parish.

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Father Charles C. McCoart, newly appointed pastor of Good Shepherd Parish in Mount Vernon, has served as executive director of Catholic Charities for five years. He was born June 26, 1960, in Washington, D.C., and graduated from St. Bernadette School and West Springfield High School, both in Springfield.

He began his training for the priesthood at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., after graduating from George Mason University in Fairfax in 1982. Following his diaconate assignment at St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Falls Church, he was ordained to the priesthood by Arlington Bishop John R. Keating on May 19, 1990.

Father McCoart served as parochial vicar at St. Mary of Sorrows Parish in Fairfax Station from 1990-92 and was named director of the Office of Youth Activities in 1991, a post he held until his appointment to Catholic Charities in 1998. He has been in residence at St. Ann Parish in Arlington, Good Shepherd Parish Alexandria, St. Agnes Parish in Arlington and St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Arlington. Father McCoart served briefly as administrator of All Saints Parish in Manassas in 2000 and has been administrator of St. Matthew Parish in Spotsylvania since earlier this year.

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Father Patrick Posey, newly appointed pastor of St. Francis de Sales Parish in Purcellville, was born Jan. 21, 1965, in Washington, D.C., the son of A. Lee and Peggy Posey. He attended St. Agnes School and Bishop O’Connell High School, both in Arlington.

He attended both St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Overbrook, Pa., and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, and was ordained a deacon on May 26, 1990. He spent his diaconate year at St. Timothy Parish in Chantilly.

He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Keating on May 18, 1991. He celebrated his first Mass at St. Agnes Church. His first assignment was as parochial vicar at Sacred Heart Church in Winchester. He was assigned to the Diocesan Mission in Banica, the Dominican Republic, in 1995.

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Father Joseph A. Salazar, M.S.A., of Manhattan, N.Y., was born on Jan.12, 1937, to Alfonso Salazar-Toledo and Encarnacion Solis-Realposo.

He attended Rhodes Evening High School in New York City, and graduated in 1959. He attended Capuchin-Franciscan Seminary of St. Mary, in Crown Point, Ind., where he majored in philosophy and minored in education. In 1972, he received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn., and, in 1976, he received his master’s degree in theology from Oblate College in Washington D.C. He was also awarded master of divinity for his graduate studies at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in 1982.

Father Salazar was ordained on March 27, 1977, at St. John the Evangelist Church in Cromwell, Conn., by Norwich Bishop Daniel D. Reilly.

He served as resident dean of students and director of seminarians at Holy Apostles College and Seminary from 1977-80. He served as pastor from 1980-89 at St. Martin de Porres Parish in New Haven, Conn.

Father Salazar also served as chaplain of the Department of Pastoral Care for the U.S. Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons from 1989-92.

He has served as pastoral assistant at St. John Bosco Parish, in Woodstock, since 1998.

Father Salazar will serve as the administrator of the Mission Church of Our Lady of the Shenandoah in Bayse, effective June 29, 2003.