In the past year, Oblate Father Lewis S.
Fiorelli served part time at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Vienna. But as
of June 19, the 76-year-old went from aging in place — serving as a parochial
vicar but with less responsibility — to being elected leader of the Oblates of
St. Francis de Sales Wilmington-Philadelphia Province. The region stretches
from Massachusetts to Florida, has 149 Oblates and is one of two U.S. provinces.
“We see God’s will coming to us in a lot
of different ways,” said Father Fiorelli, and in this case, it was through the
men who voted for him to lead the province. The work is a change of pace and
scene for Father Fiorelli, who muses he might be the oldest priest elected to
the position. But as St. Francis de Sales said, “bloom where you’re planted,”
said Father Fiorelli, a former parochial vicar of Our Lady of Good Counsel.
On a recent Tuesday, the new provincial
headed to Michigan to see three postulants join his order’s novitiate. Then he
returned to Wilmington, Del., the headquarters of the province. He’s mostly
moved there already, he said, but hopes to make Our Lady of Good Counsel his
“home away from home.”
Father Fiorelli was born in Waterloo,
N.Y., March 10, 1942, and entered the Oblates after high school. While in the seminary
and as a priest he taught high school and at De Sales School of Theology in
Washington. He served as superior general of the Oblates of St. Francis de
Sales from 1996 to 2004. For years he has ministered as a spiritual director. With
Teresa Pitt Green, a survivor of sexual clergy abuse, he wrote a book in 2014
titled, Veronica’s Veil: Spiritual
Companionship for Survivors of Abuse.
Father Fiorelli will lead the province
with four council members, including Father Matthew J. Hillyard, pastor of Our
Lady of Good Counsel. When Father Fiorelli served as superior general, he saw
his role as being the “heart and soul” of the congregation and the “energizing
motivator.” He hopes to fill the same role while leading the province.
He and the council will oversee the
Oblates’ many parishes and schools, DeSales University in Central Valley, Pa.,
and its other ministries, he said. They ensure their fellow Oblates are happy and healthy in their various
roles.
“We just help the men be who they are
and be that well,” he said. “We’re of service to them in any way we can be.”
