Meet the Pastor and Clergy

List of 14 members.

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  Fr. Pat Woods 

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  Fr. Alistair Elias 

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  Bio

  Father Alistair Joseph Elias comes from the Caribbean island of Grenada.  Number 11 of 12 children, Fr. Elias was born to Monica Elias and Albert Thomas.  He attended school from kindergarten through high school and taught at a high school before entering the Redemptorist Congregation at the age of 22 in the year 2002.  Fr. Elias began his formation on the U.S. Virgin Island of St. Croix and in 2004 moved to New York where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Theology.  After his undergraduate studies, Fr. Elias went to the novitiate in Glenview, Illinois from July 2007 to July 2008.  He took his first vows as a Redemptorist on August 1, 2008. After his novitiate, Fr. Elias was sent to Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean until September 2009 when he went to Boston to obtain his Master of Divinity degree at Boston College.  Fr. Elias took his final vows on August 16, 2011, and on October 6, 2012, was ordained to the diaconate at Boston College. On June 3, 2013, he was ordained to the priesthood in Grenada and then was assigned to St. Lucia, Dominica and now St. Mary's Annapolis. Fr. Elias looks forward to serving the parishioners of St. Mary’s.
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  Fr. Michael Houston 

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  Bio

  Fr. Mike Houston grew up in a small town near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, also known as the Amish Country. He has a great respect for the Amish, and believes that their deep faith and strong sense of community had an influence on his desire to enter into the religious life. Many of the seeds of his vocation were planted by the Church and school he attended during his youth, both of which were run by the Redemptorist Fathers.  After completing high school and working various part-time and full-time jobs, he worked for 8 years on the shipping docks of the Dart Container Corp. located in Leola, PA; he believes that his years on the shipping docks have served him well in ministry, giving him a strong work ethic. After having a dramatic conversion experience in his early 20s, he felt the call to serve the Lord as a Redemptorist priest.  After his ordination to the priesthood in May of 1998, he was immediately sent to the Caribbean where he served for nearly 13 years. He studied Spanish in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic and was then stationed on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands where he served for 6 years as a missionary.  He then served as a pastor, house superior, and Episcopal Vicar of the Western Vicariate in the Roseau diocese on the island of Dominica in the West Indies for 5 years, and served a short time on St. Lucia before being transferred to St. Gerard parish in Lima, OH where he was stationed as an associate pastor for 8 years.  He then served as an associate pastor  in St. Gerard’s in San Antonio Texas for 2 years.  Fr. Mike has experience working on Redemptorist Missions in both the Caribbean and the U.S.  Prior to his ordination, he did his pastoral internship at the shrine of St. Anne-de-Beaupre’ in Quebec, Ca. and he has been involved in both Hispanic (including migrant) ministry and the charismatic renewal.  He enjoys teaching adult religious ed.  He also has experience in youth ministry and as a guitarist for various musical ensembles.  In his spare time, he enjoys the occasional ride on his Harley and has a real passion for playing blues and jazz improvisation on the guitar. Father Mike has had a special devotion to Blessed Francis X. Seelos who was once stationed here in Annapolis.
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  Rev. John McKenna 

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  Bio

  Father John McKenna was born in Brooklyn, New York to Stephen and Rosemary (Ryan) McKenna (deceased) and is the oldest of six children. He attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help Elementary School in Brooklyn.
  
  

  Inspired by his maternal uncle, Fr. John T. Ryan, CSsR, and Redemptorist priests in his parish, he entered Saint Mary’s Seminary in North East, Pennsylvania in 1965 and graduated in 1969. From 1969-1970, he made novitiate in Ilchester (Ellicott City), Maryland, professing his Temporary Vows in 1970.  He studied at Saint Alphonus College in Suffield, Connecticut, from 1970-1974, earning a BA in Philosophy. He professed my Final Vows as a Redemptorist in June 1974. He continued his preparation for the priesthood in Mount Saint Alphonsus, Esopus (Ulster County) New York. In 1978 he earned a Master’s in Religious Education (M.RE.) and a Master's in Divinity (MDiv). He was ordained a priest by Terence Cardinal Cooke, Archbishop of New York, on May 29, 1977.
  
  

  At the end of his studies, Father McKenna was assigned to work in the Vice Province of San Juan, Puerto Rico. He went to language school in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, from September to December 1978 to learn Spanish and reported to his new assignment and ministry in Puerto Rico on January 1979. He served there for 20 years (1979-1999) in different parishes and towns: Mayaguez, Caguas, Guayama and San Lorenzo.
  
  

  In 1999, he returned to the United States and made a sabbatical program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. His assignments in the United States have been: Immaculate Conception, Bronx, NY (1999-2001, Saint Martin of Tours, Bethpage, New York (2001-2005), Our Lady of Lourdes, Seaford, Delaware (2005-2011) Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Brooklyn (2011-2019), Saint Mary’s Annapolis, (2019-present).
  
  

  Father McKenna’s family has grown to include 9 nephews and 2 nieces. His niece Clare attended the US Naval Academy (USNA), serving in the Marines, and his nephew Glenn also attended the USNA, serving in the submarine part of the Navy.

  He is bilingual: English and Spanish.
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  Fr. James O'Blaney 

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  Bio

  Father O'Blaney was born in March 4, 1933 in New York City. His first profession was in 1953, and he was ordained June 22, 1958. He attended Catholic University and received his masters in mathematics. He taught at St. Mary's seminary for eight years, where he directed the band. He began his pastoral work in Vermont. He first became pastor in Baltimore at St.  Wenceslaus. He became pastor at St. Mary's in 1973 and served there until 1981. He then became pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in New York.  He served at Provincial Assistant in 1984. In 1990 became pastor in St. Christopher's in Kent Island then at St. Clement's in Saratoga Springs, NY. In 2002, he became pastor in St. James in Litiz, PA, where he served for 20 years before returning to St. Mary's in 2022.
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  Fr. Rodney Olive 

  Bio

  Fr. Rodney Olive is originally from St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, where he was born and raised. At the age of 19 Fr. Olive was drafted for military service.  Fr. Olive is a veteran who served in the US Navy- submarine service. After his service in the Navy, he went into the restaurant business. His strong faith in God led him to sell his business and answer God’s call to the join the Redemptorist Missionaries. He attended the Redemptorist College seminary in Suffield, Connecticut. Fr. Olive then attended the Redemptorist Novitiate, which is a yearlong discernment, after which he professed his vows. He moved on to study theology at Mount St. Alphonsus Seminary for 3 years where he received a Master’s in Religious Education. Fr. Olive then moved on to the Washington Theological Union where he received a Master’s in Divinity.  He was ordained a priest for the Redemptorist Missionaries on May 26, 1986.
  
  

  Fr. Olive has a long history as a Redemptorist Missionary, serving in many countries in the Caribbean, both in parish and retreat house ministry, preaching missions and revivals, and is very involved in media evangelization. In 2006 he was elected as Regional Superior of the English-Speaking Caribbean Region. Fr. Olive has also served in parish ministry in Ohio, South Carolina, Missouri, and Maryland.
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  Fr. Joy Poonoli 

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  Bio

  Father Joy Poonoli, C.Ss.R., was born in Kerala, India, and raised in a devout Catholic family of eight children; one brother is a priest and one sister is a religious nun. He was ordained in 1993 and assigned to a Redemptorist parish. He then served in many different positions including the mission team, vicar, rector and the prefect of the major seminarians. Fr. Joy chose to be a missionary working together with the Baltimore Province and was assigned as the associate pastor of a parish in Lima, OH and the chaplain of the prison there. While serving in Lima, he was elected as the Provincial of the Liguori Province of the Redemptorists in India. After 8 years as provincial, he took a sabbatical for one year and then worked as the pastor in a parish in India for two years. In July 2023, Fr. Joy was invited by the Baltimore Province of the Redemptorists to join the parish pastoral team at St. Mary’s and to work as the chaplain in the Hospital at Annapolis.
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  Fr. Clement Vadakkedath 

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  Bio

  Fr. Clement Vadakkedath, C.Ss.R., was born in Kerala, India. He grew up in a devout Catholic family of seven children (five boys and two girls) and joined the Redemptorists as a teenager and graduated from the Jesuit College in Bangalore, India. He was professed a Redemptorist on June 27, 1982, the feast of Our Mother of Perpetual Help. Fr. Clement was ordained a priest on April 19, 1990, and was attached to a Redemptorist parish in Mumbai then moved back to Kerala to join the mission band which gave him a wide experience of preaching missions and evangelizing people from different walks of life. In 1996, he was appointed as the formator of Redemptorist minor seminarians while serving as consultor on the provincial team. Fr. Clement obtained his licentiate in Moral theology in 2000 and a Doctorate in 2004 from the Alphonsian Institute of Higher Studies, Rome. On his return from Rome, he began teaching moral Theology in the Redemptorist Major Seminary where he studied and also served as a member of the board of trustees of the Alphonsian Academy, Rome. In the following year, he was elected Provincial of the Liguori Province of the Redemptorists in India. On completion of his term as Provincial in 2011, he chose to work together with the Baltimore Province of the Redemptorists and was assigned as pastor of Fatima Parish in Dominica of the English-speaking Caribbean islands. He moved to Our Lady of Lourdes, Seaford, Delaware in 2015 as pastor and when the Redemptorists handed over the care of the parish to the Diocese of Wilmington in 2019, he was asked to join the parish pastoral team at St. Mary’s.
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  Fr. Eric Hoog 

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  Bio

  In Residence
  Ordained in 1973, Father Eric Hoog has had assignments in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and St. Croix in the US Virgin islands before receiving permission to enter the military as a Navy Chaplain.  Fr. Hoog served as a Navy Chaplain from 1998 until 2007, when he was honorable discharged with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.  He is currently a part-time civilian RC priest at the US Naval Academy.
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  Fr. Vang Tran 

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  Bio

  In Residence
  Father Vang entered the Redemptorist seminary in Vietnam in 1962. At the fall of Saigon in 1975, as a Redemptorist novice he left Vietnam by helicopter during the last evacuation, and settled down Jacksonville, Florida. In 1976 he entered the Novitiate in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin as a member of the Vice Province of Richmond.  Father Vang attended St. Alphonsus College in Suffield, Connecticut from 1977 to 1979 and then moved on to Mount Saint Alphonsus Seminary in Esopus, New York from 1979 to 1983, where he received a Master of Theology and Religious Education. In 1983, Father Vang was ordained a priest in Esopus, New York, and stationed at his first assignment at Our Lady of Perpetual Help church in Opa-Locka, Florida where he founded the Vietnamese community.  He was transferred to Concord, North Carolina in 1989 where he helped start the first Vietnamese community. In 1997, Father Vang served as Chaplain in the detention centers for the boat people of Hong Kong. In 1998, after the camps were closed, he returned to the United States, and began preaching parish missions to Vietnamese and Americans throughout the country while based in Hampton, Virginia. In 2009, Father Vang was transferred to North Carolina, helping out at the parishes of Saint James the Greater and St. Joseph Catholic Church, and ministering to the Montagnards in Raleigh and the Karenni (Myanmar) in Winston Salem. On August 1, 2019 he was transferred to St. Mary’s to serve as a missionary for the Vietnamese ministry.  He also started a Redemptorist mission to the Montagnards in the Highlands of Vietnam, in 1998, which remains his primary ministry to this day. Father Vang started a non-profit organization to to serve the Montagnards named Viet Toc Foundation (www.viettoc.org).
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  Deacon Leroy Moore 

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  Bio

  Deacon Moore was ordained in July of 1988 by Archbishop William Borders, D.D. He currently is focused only on Diaconate ministry: baptisms, weddings, funerals, and St. Mary's Elementary School K-2 prayer services. An Annapolitan, Deacon Moore is the proud parent of six children; all five of his daughters are graduates of St. Mary's High School. He has greater joy in being Grandpa to 12 grandchildren, with his wife Kathleen.
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  Deacon George Russell 

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  Bio

  Deacon George Russell is a tutor at St. John's College, Annapolis, and a native of Brooklyn, New York. He is the husband of Mary Ellen Russell, Director of the Maryland Catholic Conference, and the father of four sons, two of whom are married, Daniel and Sarah, Tobias and Margaret, Luke and James. He and his family, which includes four grandchildren, have lived in St. Mary's Parish since 1995.
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  Deacon Anthony Norcio 

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  Bio

  Deacon Norcio was ordained in 1996 by William Cardinal Keeler. Deacon Norcio is a canon lawyer and is a Judge on the Metropolitan Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. He served as the Assistant Director of Clergy Personnel for Deacon Formation for 22 years and has served as a Master of Ceremonies at Archdiocesan liturgies. He was previously assigned to St. Mary’s for 16 years and for seven years at St. Andrew by the Bay. He has a Ph.D., a Licentiate in Canon Law (JCL), and a MA in Systematic Theology as well as Graduate Certificates in Biblical Studies and Advanced Biblical Studies. He is a Professor Emeritus of Information Systems at UMBC. His family has been in St. Mary’s parish since 1979. His wife, Ellie, retired from St. Mary’s Elementary School after 22 years. He has two daughters, who attended St. Mary’s School, and four grandchildren.
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  Deacon Steven House 

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  Bio

  Deacon Steve House has been assigned to St. Mary’s since July of 2021. He and his wife, Rochelle, moved to Annapolis from Columbus, Indiana, in June, 2016. He is a retired psychologist, having practiced psychology for over 30 years.  His wife is a retired high school guidance director. They have been happily married for 46 years.  They have three children. One son's family live in Leesburg, Virginia. A second son and family live in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. They live with their daughter here in Annapolis. Their move from Indiana brought them closer to their children and 7 granddaughters. Although he grew up in Philly, he lived in Indiana for 35 years. The move to Maryland was planned but probably hastened by the fact that their daughter has Natalie, a 7 year old special needs child. Deacon Steve was ordained in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in 2012. He has participated in men’s ministry, prison ministry,youth ministry and music ministry. The church has been a big part of his and his wife’s lives. The diaconate has been a perfect fit for his spiritual needs. It is a beautiful gift from God.  To be able to serve others is a fulfilling way to live out his Christian vocation. Deacon Steve is happy to be a part of the St. Mary’s parish family.