Italian priests Father Ettore Ferrario and Father Pietro Rossotti start their ministry with St. Peter in North St. Paul July 1. The 128-year-old parish includes a school.
The priests, members of the Priestly Fraternity of the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo, live in community and focus on serving the laity. A third priest, Father Daniele Scorrano, will join them in August.
Father Ferrario, who will serve as pastor, said they want get to “know the people and them to know us” and “enrich each other as we set upon our way of living in communion.” He added that the parish has “big and generous history” which they look forward to learning more about.
Father Ferrario and Father Rossotti will introduce themselves to the parish at St. Peter’s Saturday evening and Sunday Masses July 1-2 with receptions to follow.
Also called the Fraternity of St. Charles or “the Fraternity,” the apostolic society serves worldwide with more than 25 missions, including Washington, D.C., where Father Ferrario and Father Rossotti most recently served. Father Scorrano has been serving in Italy.
Father Massimo Camisasca founded the Fraternity in 1985, and it became a Society of Apostolic Life in 1989. The Fraternity also credits its inspiration to the lay Catholic movement Communion and Liberation and its founder, Father Luigi Giussani.
Father Ferrario joined the Fraternity after involvement in Communion and Liberation. A native of Milan, Italy, he was ordained in 2005 and has served in Paraguay and Kenya before coming to the U.S. He last served as associate pastor at Christ the King in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Also a native of Milan, Father Rossotti has served in Boston after ordination in 2009 before going to Washington, D.C. He most recently taught at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Father Scorrano grew up in southern Italy and became a priest in 2013. He has been serving in Reggio Emilia, Italy, since.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda invited the Fraternity to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis after a recommendation from Cardinal Sean O’Malley of the Boston archdiocese, which also has the Fraternity. Both Archbishop Hebda and Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens met priests of the Fraternity while in Rome. Archbishop Hebda and Bishop Cozzens announced the news to the parish via a letter in May.
Since 2011, Father William Deziel has served as St. Peter’s pastor. He begins his new assignment as pastor of Guardian Angels in Chaska July 1.
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