Father Michael A. Perry
I was born in Astoria, Queens; my father was an oil-truck driver and my mother was a waitress--both of them children of Ukrainian immigrants. I went to Catholic grammar school (St. Anastasia in Douglaston), Catholic high school (St. Mary's in Manhasset) and Marist College, where I majored in French. After graduating in 1965, I attended Christ the King Seminary and was ordained in 1971. Right after ordination I was sent to learn Spanish in Puerto Rico. Upon my return my first assignment was St. Gregory the Great parish in Crown Heights, where I ministered for two years before being transferred to Queen of All Saints in Clinton Hill. After one year there, I became the Catholic Chaplain at the Pratt Institute, a post I held for 23 years. I was then off to Breezy Point for two years, then in 1993 I was named pastor of Our Lady of Refuge, where I have remained ever since. For the past 15 years I have served as the English-speaking priest for the summer at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Here in the parish, I have also worked closely with the Sisters of Mercy, the NYPD and the NY Fire Department. Most recently, Bishop DiMarzio asked me to serve on the committee promoting Catholic-Muslim dialogue in the diocese.
And God's in his Heaven and all's well with the world.
Father Perry