PORTLAND – Bishop Robert Deeley has announced the following three priest assignments with effective dates noted.
Effective Aug. 1, Fr. Philip Clement is appointed as administrator at Our Lady of the Lakes Parish (Our Lady of the Lakes Church, Oquossoc; St. Luke Church, Rangeley; St. John Church, Stratton; Bell Chapel, Sugarloaf Mountain). Fr. Clement currently serves as administrator at St. Peter the Fisherman Parish (Holy Name Church, Machias; Sacred Heart Church, Lubec; St. Michael Church, Cherryfield; service to this parish also includes St. Timothy Church in Campobello, New Brunswick).
A Louisiana native, Fr. Clement completed his clerical studies at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida, in 2008. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida, by Bishop Robert Lynch on May 17, 2008, at St. Jude the Apostle Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Since his ordination, he has served at Nativity Church in Brandon, Florida; Incarnation Church in Tampa, Florida; as a hospital chaplain in Lewiston; and in his current role at St. Peter the Fisherman.
Effective Aug. 1, Fr. Johnson Sacreties Panneer Selvam, HGN, (“Fr. John”) is appointed as administrator at St. Peter the Fisherman Parish (Holy Name Church, Machias; Sacred Heart Church, Lubec; St. Michael Church, Cherryfield; service to this parish also includes St. Timothy Church in Campobello, New Brunswick). Fr. John currently serves as a parochial vicar at Prince of Peace Parish (Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, Lewiston; Holy Cross Church, Lewiston; Holy Family Church, Lewiston; Holy Trinity Church, Lisbon Falls; Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Sabattus).
A native of Gangapattu, India, Fr. John completed his theological studies at St. Joseph Major Seminary in Khammam, India, and was ordained to the priesthood on May 10, 2014, in Vellore, India. Since his ordination, he has served as assistant parish priest at Assumption Church in Puliyal, India, and St. Antony Church in Marambadi, India; at the Shrine of Apostle St. Thomas and Our Lady of Health in Little Mount (Chinnamalai), India; assisting at Nativity of the Blessed Mary Church in Presque Isle; and in his current role at Prince of Peace Parish.
Effective Sept. 1, Fr. Anthony F. Kuzia, CM, is appointed as parochial vicar at St. Michael Parish (St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Augusta; St. Augustine Church, Augusta; St. Joseph Church, Gardiner; Sacred Heart Church, Hallowell; St. Denis Church, Whitefield; St. Francis Xavier Church, Winthrop). Fr. Kuzia currently serves as administrator of Our Lady of the Lakes Parish in Oquossoc.
A native of Ansonia, Connecticut, Fr. Kuzia was received into the Vincentian community in 1969. He earned a master of divinity degree from Mary Immaculate Seminary in Northampton, Pennsylvania, before making his final vows on June 13, 1974. Fr. Kuzia was ordained to the priesthood in the Mary Immaculate Seminary chapel on May 29, 1976. Since his ordination, Fr. Kuzia has served as a parochial vicar at St. Michael Church in Derby, Connecticut; a faculty member at St. John Kanty Prep in Erie, Pennsylvania; a superior, consultor, vocations director, and treasurer for the New England province of the Vincentian Order; a pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in Lisbon; a vicar for priests for the Diocese of Portland; a pastor of St. Peter and Sacred Heart Parishes in Concord, New Hampshire; a pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Pelham, New Hampshire; and a parochial vicar of St. Stanislaus Parish in New Haven, Connecticut. In addition, Fr. Kuzia was responsible for supervising the construction of the DePaul Provincial Residence in Manchester, Connecticut, and the current Holy Trinity Church in Lisbon Falls.
