Pinoy named pastor of NY church

NEW YORK CITY – A Filipino priest has been named pastor of a Catholic parish in New York City.

Rev. Erno Diaz, vicar of St. Peter’s Church near the World Trade Center, is the first Filipino to become pastor in the Archdiocese of New York, where he has served since 1977.

Diaz was appointed pastor of St. Malachy Church on Broadway and 49th Street in Manhattan by Archbishop of New York Edward Cardinal Egan.

Diaz is very much involved in activities of the Filipino community in the United States. He founded and directed the Blessed Lorenzo Ruiz Movement in the US which worked for the eventual canonization of San Lorenzo in 1987.

From 1982 to 1990, he served as coordinator of the Filipino Apostolate in the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey. At the time, he was chaplain of Hackensack Medical Center.

Diaz is director of the Philippine Pastoral Center, the official headquarters of the Filipino Apostolate on 62nd Street in east midtown Manhattan. –Billy Esposo