Parish Staff

 

The Reverand Gerald R. Blaszczak, S.J. FR. GERALD R. BLASZCZAK, S.J., Pastor of St. Ignatius Loyola

The Reverend Gerald R. Blaszczak, S.J. entered the Society of Jesus at St. Andrew-on-Hudson, Poughkeepsie, New York on July 30, 1967 and was ordained a priest on June 9, 1979.

Blaszczak, a Danforth Fellow and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Philosophische Hochschule Berchmanskolleg in Pullach, Germany in 1971, and a Bachelor of Arts in Classics from Fordham University in 1972. He was awarded a Ph.D. from Harvard University in New Testament and Early Church History in 1984.

Father Blaszczak began his teaching career in the Religious Studies Department at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York in 1977 where he remained until 1984. From 1985 to 1988, he served as a Professor of New Testament and Biblical Languages at Hekima College in Nairobi, Kenya.

Before coming to St. Ignatius Parish in July 2005, Father Blaszczak held the post of Vice President for University Mission and Ministries at Fordham University. From 1998 to 2001 he also served as Rector of the Jesuit Community at Fordham. Prior to his service at Fordham, he functioned as Rector of the Jesuit Novitiate in Syracuse from 1989 to 1997.

Presently he serves on the boards of trustees at Loyola University New Orleans, the Colavita Foundation for Children in New York City, Regis High School and the Marymount School, also both in New York. In addition, he is a member of the editorial board of “CrossCurrents” magazine.



JOANNE CUNNEEN, M.A., M.S.  Pastoral Associate

Joanne Cunneen holds an MS degree from Hunter College in Early Childhood Education and an MA degree in Theology from the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, Long Island. 

She came to St. Ignatius Loyola Parish in 1994 as an experienced teacher and religious educator.  Her teaching career began at All Saints parish in Brooklyn as a first grade teacher in the parochial school.  After eleven years of service there, she moved to Epiphany Parish in Manhattan as a grammar school teacher and Director of Religious Education.

At St Ignatius in 1994, Joanne began as the Director of the Interparish Religious Education Program which has grown through the years to serve the religious education needs of over 700 students from diverse parishes on the upper eastside of Manhattan and indeed throughout the metropolitan area.  This program is now situated in two sites in addition to Saint Ignatius and brings children from kindergarten age through the eighth grade into contact with the religious teaching and sacramental life of our Church.  Joanne’s work has been nationally recognized by the catechetical leadership of our Church.

Shortly after her arrival at St. Ignatius, Joanne initiated the “Liturgy of the Word for Children” program as a very popular addition to our extensive Parish liturgical services.  Each Sunday, approximately 70 or 80 children are taken during the morning masses under Joanne’s supervision to a side chapel in the Parish House to hear the Sunday Scripture readings proclaimed and explained in a way that is especially accessible to young pre-school and early school children.

Joanne’s responsibilities at St. Ignatius include overseeing the baptismal preparation program for parents of young children, the preparation of engaged couples for marriage and the religious education program in our parochial Grammar School.  She also works directly with the Archdiocese of New York through her participation in programs to train teachers of religious education.  This year Joanne was one of the finalists selected from all over the nation to take part in the Companions of Prayer program sponsored by Loyola Press in Chicago.



Sr. Katherine King, FSP SR. KATHRYN KING, FSP, Pastoral Associate

Sister Kathryn, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Peace, has been on the staff of St. Ignatius Loyola Parish for three years.  She was a Campus Chaplain at New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University, Newark, N.J.  She has been a spiritual director and retreat director for over twenty five years.  As an adjunct faculty member in the Practicum in Giving spiritual Direction in the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education, Fordham University, she helped to develop a training program for giving the directed retreat as a collaborative program between the Graduate School and Mariandale Retreat and Conference Center where she was Program Director for nine years.  Sister Kathryn has also been involved in the leadership of her religious congregation and in the formation of future women religious.  In that capacity she was Novice Minister for a collaborative formation program for fourteen congregations of women religious.  In this capacity she was a presenter for an international meeting for formation of women religious in Rome, for women religious in formation in Namibia, Africa, and for Franciscan formators in Scottsdale, Az. 



Mary Naughton MARY NAUGHTON, Pastoral Associate

Mary Naughton is a Spiritual Director, Supervisor, and Retreat Director. She holds Master’s Degrees in both English Literature and Religious Studies /Spirituality Magna Cum Laude from Fordham University and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction from the Center for Spirituality and Justice in the Bronx and has further training in Directing the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius from The Jesuit Spiritual Center in Wernersville, PA. She has been a high school and college teacher, a Director of Campus Ministry, a Parish Director of Religious Education, and a Pastoral Associate in both the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Archdiocese of New York. She has also been a faculty member at the Brooklyn Diocesan Pastoral Institute and the NY Archdiocesan Spirituality Institute and has led both Directed and Guided Retreats at several Retreat Houses in the New York area. Her articles on both youth and adult parish spirituality have been published in Church magazine and Religion Teacher’s Journal. She lives on City Island with her husband of 35 years, Bill, and her daughter, Noreen, a NYC Special Education teacher. Her son, John, lives with his wife, Amanda, in Columbus, Ohio, where he is Associate Director of Admissions at Ohio Wesleyan University. Mary’s many interests include reading, swimming, boating, travel, and anything pertaining to Ireland. In addition, she is still mourning the loss of the Brooklyn Dodgers!



Fr. George Witt, S.J.FR. GEORGE WITT, S.J., Pastoral Associate

Father George Witt, S.J., is a native of Flushing, Queens.  He entered the Society of Jesus in Syracuse, NY in August 1996, and was ordained a priest in June 2006 at Fordham University Church. 

Prior to becoming a Jesuit, Father Witt taught high school English and religious education, and served as a guidance counselor and track coach.  He has a bachelor’s degree in English and theology and a master’s degree in philosophy, both from Fordham University, and a master’s degree in divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley, CA (JSTB).  He also earned a licentiate in sacred theology while at JSTB in the area of Christian Spirituality.

Father Witt served for two years as a retreat minister at St. Ignatius Loyola Retreat House (Inisfada), Manhasset, NY, where he offered spiritual direction, directed and preached retreats, and days and evenings of prayer.  Proficient in American Sign Language, Father Witt served as a deacon and spiritual director at St. Benedict’s Parish for the Deaf in San Francisco.

He joined the Parish staff at St. Ignatius in January 2007.



Fr. William Bergen, S.J. FR. WILLIAM BERGEN, S.J., Senior Priest Associate

Father William Bergen was born and raised in Manhattan, attended Jesuit schools, and entered the Jesuit Novitiate in Poughkeepsie in 1955.  He was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Francis Spellman in 1965 at Fordham University Church.  Following advanced studies in theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D. C., he taught theology at St. Peter’s College in Jersey City.  During these years he was also active in retreat work at Mount Manresa, the Jesuit retreat house on Staten Island.  From 1983 to 1989, Father Bergen worked as a parish priest at St. Ignatius Church in Baltimore, Maryland, and as a retreat director at Bon Secours Spiritual Center in Marriottsville, Maryland.  Since 1989 he has been on the Parish staff here at St. Ignatius Loyola.



FR. JOHN REPLOGLE, Pastoral Associate

Father John Replogle was born and raised in Brooklyn, attended Xavier High School in Manhattan and entered the Jesuit Novitiate In Poughkeepsie n 1951. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1964. Since ordination he has taught in high schools, worked in College Campus Ministry and has given many retreats; most recently at the Cenacle Retreat House in Ronkonkoma, Long Island, and the Linwood Spiritual Center, Rhinebeck, NY. Besides working at St. Ignatius, he is also a part of the Campus Ministry team at Iona College, New Rochelle, where he is beginning his 11th year.



Kent Tritle KENT TRITLE, Director of Music Ministries

Kent Tritle is one of America’s leading choral conductors and organists. He has been Director of Music Ministries at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola since 1989.  In addition to supervising the liturgical music program, he is also the founder and music director of Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, the acclaimed concert series now entering its nineteenth season at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York City. In more than 120 concerts he has conducted the Choir and Orchestra of St. Ignatius Loyola in a broad repertoire of sacred works. This concert series is an important outreach activity of the Parish.

Mr. Tritle is Music Director of the Oratorio Society of New York,, recently conducting their performance of Honegger’s Le Rois David (King David) to acclaim in Budapest. Formed in 1873, OSNY is New York City’s second oldest cultural institution, and Mr. Tritle has also garnered critical acclaim for his conducting of their concerts at Carnegie Hall. Their performance of baroque music in May 2006 was broadcast on station WQXR, the classical music station of the New York Times, and around the world on WQXR.com. From 1996-2004 Mr. Tritle was Music Director of the Emmy-nominated Dessoff Choirs, winners of the ASCAP/Chorus America award for adventurous programming of contemporary music. Under his direction the Dessoff Choirs performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, American Symphony Orchestra, and Czech Philharmonic, as well as in performances for the Lincoln Center Festival and for Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, including a nationally telecast Live from Lincoln Center concert of Mozart’s Requiem.

Kent Tritle is Organist of the New York Philharmonic. In July 2007 he performed the Saint-Saens Symphonie III “Organ” with the Philharmonic in Vail, Colorado. With the Philharmonic he has recorded Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Britten’s War Requiem and Henze’s Symphony No.9, all conducted by Kurt Masur, as well as the Grammy-nominated Sweeney Todd conducted by Andrew Litton. He is featured on the Cala label’s “New York Legends” series with principal players of the New York Philharmonic, as well as on the Telarc, AMDG, Epiphany, Gothic, and VAI labels. He has appeared often as a guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. As an organ recitalist he performs regularly in Europe and across the United States. Recitals venues have included the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Zurich Tonhalle, and Church of St. Sulpice in Paris; at King’s College, Cambridge and Westminster Abbey.

He holds graduate and undergraduate degrees from The Juilliard School in organ performance and choral conducting and has served on the Juilliard faculty since 1996.
Visit our Music section for additional Music Staff listings.



ALISON DONAHUE, Director of High School Ministry

Alison Donohue has recently joined the Parish staff as the part-time Director of High School Ministry. After a year in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, Ali returned to her alma mater, Fordham University, to complete her Master’s degrees in English Literature and Theology. She spent several years as an editor of theology books before becoming the Campus Minister at Regis High School, a position she has held for the past five years.  During this time she was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study Islamic culture in Malaysia, and spent several weeks in Nairobi, Kenya, establishng a partnership between Regis and a school for AIDS orphans.  In addition to her work at St. Ignatius, Ali will be a student at the Yale Divinity School.



Robin ZeamerROBIN ZEAMER, Director of Communications

Robin Zeamer joined the Parish Staff of St. Ignatius in 1989. A native New Yorker, Robin arrived with an eclectic background and hence has worn many hats during her employment at St. Ignatius. She was initially hired as the Pastor’s Assistant and worked in that capacity until 2001, during which time she assumed responsibility for the design editing and layout for the weekly Church bulletin, and created many brochures and flyers for Church programs which she continues to do presently.

In 1991 she seized the novel opportunity to market the newly renovated Wallace Hall, and coordinated hundreds of special events over the years. This included the management of many Church events and fundraisers including the Antiques Shows Preview Parties, Silent Auctions, Day Nursery Dinner Dances and Theatre Benefits. In 1998 Robin designed, built and maintained the first website for St. Ignatius and has now launched the new website, summer of 2007, with the assistance of Russell Stoll, Web Developer. In November 2006, the marketing of Wallace Hall was passed on to the Facilities Department and Robin was officially promoted to Director of Communications.

Robin holds a Master’s Degree in Special Education from NYU and taught several years in NYC Board of Education’s programs for children with handicaps and special needs and at a private school serving autistic and brain injured children. Following her teaching career, she worked in the areas of Marketing, Office Management and as Development Associate and Fund Raiser for the Rudolf Steiner School where she and her daughter, Sarah, are both alumni. Her avocations include photography, gardening, cooking, reading, poetry writing and a great love for travel.



SONA OLSON, Director of Facilities

Sona Olson was hired as the first Director of Facilities of the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in 2002.  Initially she managed the Grammar School, the Day Nursery, the Church and Rectory and, for a period of three years, Loyola School. She brings property and building management experience of some 30 years. Over the past five years she has managed many projects such as the reconstruction of the classrooms in Loyola School, installation of a new gas fired boiler for the Day Nursery along with a new fire alarm system, the addition of offices in the Rectory, the renovation of Wallace Hall, the restoration of the bronze doors on the Church and the installation of the light boxes in the Narthex of St. Ignatius and St. Lawrence O’Toole to name a few. She is presently project managing the complete renovation of the Grammar School, which is being done in phases and will be completed by 2010. In addition to the day-to-day maintenance operation of the total physical plant, her department was given the scheduling of use of spaces and events.

Sona Olson is a trailblazer: she was the first woman in Operations at Yale University as the Manager of Custodial Services. In this position she managed the maintenance of 10 million square feet, made up of 171 buildings and with a staff of 15 management employees and 435 union employees.  Sona began at Yale as a research assistant in the Department of Sociology, transitioning to an Administrator in a Residential College, then Manager of Custodial Services, over a period of 15 years at Yale.

Leaving Yale in 1981, she joined the Operations Division at Columbia University as Associate Director of Buildings and Grounds. While at Columbia she established a Maintenance Control Center and initiated the lighting of the trees on College Walk for the holiday season.
In 1984, looking for new horizons, she was hired as Vice President for Management by Mendik Realty, a privately owned real estate company that managed 18 million square feet of commercial A grade buildings. There she restored several lobbies of important buildings and established many policies and procedures for managing buildings that are still in use today.  Following Mendik Realty, she worked as Vice President for Asset Management at S.L Green, now a thriving REIT. 

1999 saw Sona Olson deciding to take a breather and try retirement. However, in 2002 there came an inquiry about a new position at St. Ignatius Loyola through the Building Owners and Management Association, a professional organization where Sona served as a Board Member and Chairman of the Seminar Committee. The inquiry turned into the present position of Director of Facilities.

Sona spent 6 years in the Dominican Republic, where she taught English in the Universidad de Santo Domingo and at the Instituto Dominico-Americano. While there, she honed her skill in the Spanish language and is bilingual.  She has two sons married with children, one a management consultant and the other a movie producer. She has stepchildren as well.

She enjoys the challenge of building management and is proud of the staff she manages. Without them, the physical plant at St. Ignatius Loyola would not look as well maintained as it does.  The maintenance team at St. Ignatius Loyola is professional and competent.