We are pleased to share the background stories of our Jubilarians with you below:

Rev. Michael W. Cooper, S.J.

Father Cooper, who is originally from  Cincinnati, Ohio, entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1962 and was ordained to the priesthood for the Jesuits on June 16, 1973.  His educational achievements include a Master of Divinity degree from the Jesuit School of Theology (1974) and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Institut Catholique de Paris (1983).  During his half-century of priestly ministry, he taught in the internship program at the Jesuit Renewal Center, in Milford, Ohio (1979-1983), the Intercommunity Novitiate Program, in Cincinnati (1983-1985), and as an adjunct professor at Xavier University, Cincinnati (1979-1985) and at Loyola University of Chicago (1986-1997).  Father Cooper came to the Diocese of St. Petersburg in 1999 and has since served at Saint Leo University in Campus Ministry, as Director of the Center for Catholic-Jewish Studies, and as Professor of Ignatian Spirituality and Pastoral Studies.  He has assisted in the formation programs for several classes of deacon candidates for the Diocese of St. Petersburg and other dioceses throughout the southeast U.S. and was instrumental in the foundation of the M.A. in Theology program at Saint Leo.  Father Cooper currently resides in Safety Harbor, where he provides assistance to Espiritu Santo Parish.

Rev. John A. D’Antonio

Originally from Philadelphia, Father D’Antonio was ordained to the priesthood on June 2, 1973, for the Norbertine Fathers (Premonstratensians).  Before coming to the Diocese of St. Petersburg in 2000, where he was incardinated in 2003, he served in schools, parishes, and with the Novitiate program for the Norbertines in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Italy.  He also worked as a hospital chaplain in Philadelphia and in Washington, D.C.  After arriving in our Diocese, Father D’Antonio served as Parochial Vicar of St. Patrick, Largo (2000-2002), and St. Mark the Evangelist, Tampa (2002-2004), where he also worked as Parochial Administrator from 2004 to 2005.  He was then appointed Pastor of St. Luke the Evangelist, Palm Harbor (2005-2010), and later Holy Cross, St. Petersburg (2010-2017), after which he was granted retirement status on July 1, 2017.  Since then, Father D’Antonio has provided assistance to parishes as needed in Pinellas County.  His educational accomplishments include a B.A degree . in Religious Studies from St. Norbert College, in Wisconsin (1970), an M.S.A. degree in Financial and Personnel Administration from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana (1975), and an M.S. degree in Pastoral Counseling from Loyola College, Baltimore (1982).

Rev. Kazimierz Domek

Father Domek was born in Makowarsko, Poland and received priestly orders on June 9, 1973, for the Diocese of Gniezno, Poland.  Prior to ordination, he served in the Polish army from 1967 to 1969.  For the first 12 years after his ordination, he provided ministry to parishes in Poland (1973-1985), subsequently following a call to engage in missionary work in Venezuela (1985-1993), where he also taught in Catholic institutions.  From 1993 to 2001, Father Domek ministered in parishes in Puerto Rico before coming to the Diocese of St. Petersburg in the fall of 2001.  He became an incardinated priest of our Diocese four years later.  Over the past 22 years, Father Domek has served as Parochial Vicar of Nativity Parish, Brandon (2001-2006), and  Corpus Christi Parish, Temple Terrace (2006-2008).  He was then assigned to Blessed Sacrament Parish, Tampa, where he first served as Parochial Administrator (2008-2012), and later as Pastor (2012-present).

Rev. Joseph F. Hannon, S.D.B.

On March 23, 1973, Father Joe Hannon, a native of East Chicago, Indiana, was ordained to the priesthood for the Salesians of Don Bosco.  His service includes work as a faculty member of Mary Help of Christians School, Tampa (1973-1976).  From 1989 to 2011, he served our nation as an Army chaplain, with assignments that included Kandahar, Afghanistan.  Upon returning to our Diocese, he was assigned as a faculty member of St. Petersburg Catholic High School (2011-2017).  Since 2017, Father Hannon has served as a Theology teacher and Guidance Counselor at Cristo Rey Tampa Salesian High School.    

Rev. Ramon Hernandez

A native Cuban, Father Hernandez was born shortly before the end of World War II.  He was ordained to the priesthood on September 12, 1973, for the Diocese of Pinar del Rio, where he worked in parish ministry until 1980, after which he spent one year serving in a parish in Madrid, Spain (1980-1981).  He first came to the Diocese of St. Petersburg in 1981, where he worked in the Hispanic Apostolate, in Tampa, and provided ministry to Incarnation Parish (1981-1982).  For the next eleven years, Father Hernandez worked in various parishes in Puerto Rico, but was drawn back to our Diocese in 1993, where he was incardinated in 1997 and ministered as Parochial Vicar of St. Paul Parish, Tampa (1993-1999).  From 1999 to 2006, he served as Pastor of St. Rita Parish, Dade City, subsequently providing interim assistance to parishes in the Diocese from 2006 to 2009.  After serving as Parochial Vicar of St. Mary Parish, Tampa for one year, Father Hernandez was granted retirement status in 2010, after which he continued to provide ministry to St. Mary’s and to Santa Maria Mission.

Rev. Daniel Kenna, O.F.M.

Father Kenna was born in Manchester, Iowa.  After discerning a vocation with the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, he made his profession in 1968 and was ordained to the priesthood on September 22, 1973.  His assignments include: Vice-President for Student Development at St. Bonaventure University, New York (1973-1977), Director of Campus Ministry, St. Francis Center, Denver, Colorado (1977-1979), Pastor and Director of Postulants, St. Joseph Parish, Winsted, Connecticut (1979-1985), Director  of Novices, St. Francis Friary, Brookline, Massachusetts (1985-1990), Parochial Vicar,  St. Francis Parish, Brant Beach, New Jersey (1990-1993), Pastor/Guardian, St. Francis Parish, Raleigh, North Carolina (1993-2003), and President of Cardinal Gibbons High School, Raleigh.  From 2006 to 2014, he was Pastor of Holy Name Parish, New York City and Guardian (Superior) of the local Franciscan community (2006-2014).  Father Kenna came to Tampa in 2014 and served as Parochial Vicar of Sacred Heart Parish, Tampa until 2017, followed by an assignment in the office for the Holy Name Province, New York City until last year, when he returned to our Diocese, where he resides at St. Anthony Friary, St. Petersburg.

Rev. Oscar Z. Kozyra, O. de M.

Father Kozyra was originally a member of the Russian Orthodox Church, where he was baptized, near his home in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  At the age of 3, he learned his first prayers in Ukrainian.  Father Kozyra was later received into the Catholic Church and was ordained to the priesthood on May 6, 1973, in Cordoba, Argentina, for the Order of Our Lady of Mercy (Mercedarians).  During his 50 years of priestly ministry, he has taught for the Mercedarians in Argentina and India.  After being assigned to the St. Peter Nolasco Residence, St. Petersburg, in 1996, he served as Parochial Vicar of St. Clement Parish, Plant City (1997-1998), and Transfiguration Parish, St. Petersburg (1998-2006), after which he was granted retirement status.  He has remained active in retirement, serving as Campus Minister to Eckerd College from 2007 to 2014.  Additionally, he continues to provide ministry to parishes in Pinellas County, particularly to Spanish-speaking communities.  Father Kozyra fluent in or strongly comprehends six different languages: English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, Ukrainian, and Latin.

Rev. William E. McConville, O.F.M.

A member of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor, Father McConville was born in Brooklyn, New York and was ordained to the priesthood on September 23, 1973.  Teaching and campus ministry have been a major part of Father McConville’s ministry, with assignments including the faculty of Washington Theological Union (1982-1989), President of Siena College, Loudonville, New York (1989-1996), and Professor of Religious Studies, Siena College (1997-2001).  For the next 17 years, he served in parish ministry, with assignments as Parochial Vicar of St. Francis Parish, Raleigh, North Carolina (2001-2014) and Immaculate Conception Parish, Durham, North Carolina (2014-2017).  For a year, he worked as Associate Director of Campus Ministry for the University of Georgia, Athens (2017-2018), after which he came to St. Petersburg, where he resides at St. Anthony Friary, offering assistance to local pastors, as needed.  Father McConville’s academic achievements include a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Vanderbilt University, Nashville.  He has also collaborated with renowned theologian Cardinal Walter Kasper at the University of Tubingen, Germany.

Rev. James E. Merkel

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was the birthplace of Father Merkel, who received priestly orders on May 5, 1973, for the Diocese of Pittsburgh and served as Parochial Vicar of three parishes in the Pittsburgh area (1973-1990).  In 1990, he moved to the Diocese of St. Petersburg to be closer to his family members, working as Parochial Vicar of the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle, St. Petersburg (1990-1992), and Incarnation Parish, Tampa (1992-1995).  He was appointed Parochial Administrator, and later as Pastor of St. Benedict Parish, Crystal River, where he served from 1995 to 1999.  Subsequently, he was Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, Pinellas Park (1999-2005), and finally as Pastor of Most Holy Name of Jesus Parish, Gulfport (2005-2007), after which he was eventually granted retirement status.  Father Merkel was incardinated into the Diocese of St. Petersburg in 1993.

Rev. Matteo Rizzo

Father Rizzo was ordained to the priesthood on May 26, 1973, for his home Diocese of Brooklyn, New York. After 40 years of service to his diocese, he moved to northern Pinellas County in 2013, where he has offered regular assistance St. Luke the Evangelist Parish, Palm Harbor, St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Holiday, and St. Peter the Apostle Parish, Trinity, along with other local parishes and nursing homes, as needed.

Rev. Jean C. Robitaille, M.Afr.

Quebec, Canada was the birthplace of Father Robitaille, who discerned a vocation to the priesthood with the Missionaries of Africa (formerly the White Fathers of Africa) and was ordained on May 5, 1973 in Hull, Quebec.  His missionary work has taken his to Zambia, East Africa, on two occasions (1973-1977 and 1982-1987), where he worked as a parish priest.  In between overseas assignments, “Father Jean” worked as a Vocation and Formation Director for the Missionaries of Africa in the U.S. (1977-1981).  He has also provided ministry to the parish communities of St. Catherine of Siena, Clearwater (1978-1979),  St. Luke the Evangelist, Palm Harbor (1988), and St. Ignatius of Antioch, Tarpon Springs (1988-1990), before being transferred to Washington, D.C., where he served in the Provincial Office for the Missionaries of Africa from 1990 to 1991. He would return to Washington for seven years (2008-2015), where he was Provincial Superior of the community.  Since 2015, he has served as Local Superior of the Missionaries of Africa Residence, in St. Petersburg, and has also assisted the communities of Our Lady of the Rosary, Land O’ Lakes, the Cathedral of St. Jude the Apostle, and St. Joseph, Tampa.  Locally, Father Robitaille has worked as Diocesan Director for the English-speaking Cursillo community (2002-2008), and in providing ministry to our incarcerated brothers and sisters.  He is fluent in English, French, and Cibemba (a Bantu language, spoken in parts of Zambia).

Rev. Kevin M. Tortorelli, O.F.M.

A native Bostonian, Father Tortorelli received priestly orders for the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor on September 22, 1973.  His previous assignments include the faculty of Siena College, Loudonville, New York (1982-1992), Campus Chaplain for the University of Georgia, Athens (1992-1994), and Parochial Vicar of St. Francis Chapel, Providence, RI (1994-1996), St. Francis of Assisi Parish, New York City (1996-2014), and Holy Name Parish, New York City (2014-2017).  In 2017, Father Tortorelli moved to St. Petersburg, where he has since resided at St. Anthony Friary, assisting in local parishes whenever needed.  He was described as “a prolific writer,” having published many articles and English translations of Church documents from Latin. Father Tortorelli’s two published books include Christology with Lonergan and Balthasar (2005), and Listen to Him (2018), a collection of his homilies.