PROVIDENCE — The Most Rev. Thomas J. Tobin, Bishop of Providence, has announced that Father Jonathan DeFelice, OSB, JCL, has been appointed Assistant Moderator of the Curia and Vice Chancellor of the Diocese of Providence effective July 1, 2015 for a term of two years.
As Assistant Moderator of the Curia, Father Jonathan will, among other duties, assist in overseeing the Catholic School Office and the Office of Evangelization and Faith Formation. His duties will encompass some last held by the late Dr. David Beaudoin, Secretary for Catholic Education for the Diocese of Providence. In his role as Vice Chancellor, Father Jonathan will assist Father Timothy Reilly, JCL, Chancellor of the Diocese of Providence, in meeting a variety of Canonical needs.
“I am delighted that Father Jonathan is available to serve his home Diocese,” said Bishop Tobin. “I have no doubt that his personal expertise, his extensive administrative experience, and his firm personal commitment to the Lord Jesus and His Church will be a great blessing to the Diocese of Providence and all those we serve.”
“I am very pleased and humbled by the trust Bishop Tobin is placing in me to help in the administration of the Diocese,” said Father Jonathan. “It was in the Diocese of Providence that my faith was first nurtured by my family, teachers, and pastors and where my vocation to serve the Lord and His Church first took root. I will certainly do all I can to be of service to the Bishops, priests, religious, and people of Providence, with the grace of God to help us all.”
Originally from Bristol, Father Jonathan was a communicant of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. His parents were married at the church, he attended the parish school and it is where he celebrated his first Mass. Father Jonathan graduated from Portsmouth Abbey School, then attended Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy.
In 1968, he entered Saint Anselm Abbey, became a Benedictine monk in 1973 and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1974. He received a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1983. Father Jonathan was president of Saint Anselm College from 1989-2013 and at the time was the longest serving college president in the state of New Hampshire. He is also a founder of the Association of Benedictine Colleges and Universities.
