New Faces at Naugatuck Parishes

Pictured: Rev. Sebastian Kos greets the Chouinard family after celebrating Mass at St. Hedwig Church Photo by Nancy Sasso Janis

Parishioners at St. Mary and St. Hedwig Churches welcomed their new spiritual leader this weekend.

Rev. Sebastian Kos will be the administrator at the two Union City Roman Catholic churches which were linked by the archdiocese more than three years ago. Deacon Thomas Clifford remains as deacon for both parishes. The new administrator referred to the female patron saint St. Hedwig and the Blessed Mother during his first Mass in English at St. Hedwig when he said that he is now between “two ladies.”

Fr. Kos replaces Rev. Eugene Kotlinski, who left this week for his new assignment at St. Cyril and Methodious Church in Brooklyn, NY. In a message to parishioners in the church bulletin, Fr. Eugene expressed his gratitude. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the last three years as your pastor. Much progress has been made at both churches in repairs and the like, but I most enjoyed my time here getting to know all of you. You and both parishes will always be in my prayers.”

Parishioners may write to Fr. Eugene at his new address: St. Cyril and Methodious Church, 150 Dupont St., Brooklyn NY, 11222.

Fr. Kos previously served as the parochial vicar at Holy Cross Church in New Britain. After being ordained in May of 2010 at the age of 33, his first assignment was at St. Rita in Hamden. He is originally from Zywiec, Poland.

The faithful at St. Vincent Ferrer also had a new priest at their weekend Masses. Rev. Mathai Vellappallil, the administrator at St. Francis of Assisi, began his role as administrator of St. Vincent’s with Rev. George Nadackal as Parochial Vicar. The two priests replace Rev. Kevin Forsyth who has been appointed pastor of Saint Augustine Church in Seymour.

Fr. Vellappallil wrote the following to the members of St. Vincent Ferrer: “Cordial greetings from me and Father George Nadackal as we come to this parish. The Archbishop of Hartford, the Most Reverend Leonard P. Blair has entrusted to the Salesians of Don Bosco of New Delhi Province, India, the care of this beautiful Parish of Saint Vincent Ferrer. I am appointed as Administrator and Father George as Parochial Vicar. We are really happy to be with you and together with you. We shall do all we can to go forward as a family of Christian Faithful.”

The new St. Vincent’s administrator continued, “2015 is a unique year. It is the 40th year of our Parish of Saint Vincent Ferrer and also it is the 200th birthday of Saint John Bosco, the founder of the Salesian Congregation. I would like to remember gratefully the former Pastors and more especially, Fr. Kevin, who served the Parish for the last 12 years. I am also the Administrator of Saint Francis of Assisi Parish in Naugatuck. It shall be my endeavor to do all I can to move forward together as a vibrant community. God bless you all.”

Fr, Vellappallil wrote a similar letter to the parishioners at St. Francis of Assisi in the Sunday bulletin but added the following: “There are urgent challenges and problems facing us. I hope to share some of these concerns both material and spiritual in the coming weeks.”

The two priests have been stationed at St. Francis since June 15.

At this point, the Archdiocese has stopped short of linking the two parishes. In answer to a request for information, the Office of Radio and Television stated that “The Pastoral Planning process is underway to make determinations like the one you’re asking about.”

An attached link contained no specific information about the Naugatuck parishes. It does have a link to a letter from Archbishop Blair summarizing the results of a recent Your Voice Counts survey and focus groups. Copies of the letter were available at area churches on Sunday. Parishioner of St. Mary and St. Hedwig learned that the Archdiocese considers their parishes to be located in Union City and not Naugatuck when they tried to access the online survey