Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

BRIDGEPORT — Bishop Frank J. Caggiano ordained Deacon Guy Dormévil to the priesthood on Saturday, the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, urging the widowed father of two adult children “to become through grace a father of a larger family so there will be thousands who will have the privilege to call you ‘Father’ for you will be their spiritual father.”

“In the years ahead, you will have the occasion to defend them by teaching them the truth, by preaching it fearlessly, which I know you will do, for you will preach what you truly believe in your heart of hearts,” Bishop Caggiano said. “You will defend God’s people, your new family, your larger family, in a time when there is so much that threatens them, and you will protect them as you will continue to protect your natural family by giving them entree into the mystery of God’s grace, by leading them in prayer and by feeding them the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ — the food that brings us entree unto eternal life.”

St. Augustine Cathedral was filled with joyful members of the Haitian community who turned out for the ordination.

“I can’t even express the profound gratitude I have toward God who called me, an unworthy servant, to such a holy mission, through my sharing of the priesthood of Christ, and I pray that he will incline my heart according to his will,” Father Dormévil said. “I have received incredible support from my two children, my siblings, my whole family, my friends, the Church’s leaders, and the Church community at large. I pray that I can be the image of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who wants me to be merciful and generous in my mission, as he has been toward me. I count on the continuous prayers of the people of God, and I pray to remain a good and faithful servant to the Lord and to them.”

A resident of Norwalk, he was born in Haiti to Gustave Dormévil and Angélie Louis Charles, where he was raised along with his 15 siblings. He was married for 29 years to the late Magalie Adolphe, who died of cancer in 2015. He has two children, Guyvensky Marcus Dormévil, 29, of Norwalk and Guylendy Bernadette Dormévil, 26, of Marietta, Ga., and a grandson, Marcus Alexander Dormévil of Norwalk.

Father Dormévil was given a sustained ovation by the congregation as he was brought before the bishop as a candidate for ordination. He prostrated himself while the Litany of Saints was sung. Then, he knelt before the bishop who laid his hands on him, followed by dozens of priests who also imposed their hands, invoking the Holy Spirit.

After the prayer of ordination, he was vested with a stole and chasuble, which were presented by his son and daughter. The bishop anointed his hands as a preparation for the sacred duties he will perform. Then, the bishop handed him a chalice and paten, which signified the central importance of celebrating the Eucharist.

In his homily, Bishop Caggiano reflected on the meaning of “father” and said it is one word through which we can understand the gift of the ministerial priesthood. It is a salutation offered by God’s people every time they greet a priest.

“In the first stage or season of your life, when you met the love of your life, Magalie, and fell in love and entered into the mystery of sacred matrimony, you began to discover in the intimate love the two of you shared how creative and powerful that love is meant to be,” Bishop Caggiano said. “The two of you gave forth life in the power of God, and your beloved daughter and son are with you this very day. And they have had the privilege to call you ‘Father’ for many years.”

The bishop said that Father Dormévil had modeled his life on the example of St. Joseph, foster father of the Savior and head of the Holy Family and that he protected his wife and children “by not simply providing food and shelter but by the example of your Christian life to give the spiritual food of fidelity, perseverance, love and mercy. You discovered the power and beauty of being a father, and now in this last year to become a grandfather.”

Bishop Caggiano said that God planted a second seed in Dormévil as a young man, recalling that people recognized his spiritual qualities and would jokingly refer to him as “Father Guy.”

“Guy, you do not need me to tell you how many lives you have touched already, how many lives you have already blessed, how many people have been inspired by your fidelity and witness, and how much your family loves you,” the bishop said. “And now the Lord will ask you to put your hand to the plow and in this very troubled and challenging world, lead God’s people as one of his fathers, as his priest.”

Photos by Amy Mortensen

On the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the bishop invoked her maternal protection and intercession for Father Dormévil and said, “She will guide you and protect you. She will and she has all your life, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, through your formation and whatever lies ahead.”

He also prayed to St. Joseph for Father Dormévil because, he said, “You are so devoted to St. Joseph and have served the people of St. Joseph Parish in Norwalk for many years. You have a deep devotion to the Quiet One, who without many words did great things. I pray that Joseph the father of the Holy Family will guide you as you continue to be the father of your family and the father of our greater family, unto the glory of Jesus Christ.”

Then, the bishop announced that Father Dormévil will become priest moderator at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Quasi-parish in Stamford and be assigned to serve at the Church of St. Joseph and St. Ladislaus in Norwalk.

After the Mass, as Bishop Caggiano processed out of the Cathedral, he received vigorous applause from the Haitian community.

Father Dormévil described the path that led him to the priesthood, through St. John Fisher Seminary and then Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Mass.

“I have been a devoted and very active layman since my childhood,” he said. “I always nourished the desire of becoming a permanent deacon even though many people kept saying I should be a priest. However, when Father John Riviera Gomez popped the question to me following my wife’s death, it only took me a few minutes to say yes. May the Will of God be done. I have a great family and my children are the greatest blessing of my life, but I have never been happier than during the time I spent in priestly formation through my five years in the seminary.”

Father Dormévil will celebrate his first Mass on Sunday, June 13, at St. Joseph Church in Norwalk. Msgr. Joseph Malagreca, pastor of Holy Cross Church in New York and chaplain of the Haitian National Renouveau Charismatic Group will be the homilist and concelebrant, along with Father Edicson Orozco, pastor of the Church of St. Joseph and St. Ladislaus, Father Gerard Frantz Desruisseaux, episcopal vicar of the Haitian Community, Father Jean Ridley Julien, former chaplain of Haitian/American Center, and Father Brian Kiely, rector of Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary.

Father Dormévil left Haiti in 1988 when he had to leave his job as an immigration inspector to take refuge in the U.S. He has worked as a Burger King clerk and manager, a certified nursing assistant, a grocery store produce clerk, and then as a produce manager for 19 years. He attended college part-time and received a certificate of English as a Second Language and an associate’s degree in business administration. He also earned non-degree credits at University of Connecticut and Sacred Heart University.

On August 3, 2016, Bishop Caggiano approved his application to enter St. John Fisher Seminary, where he began pre-theology studies. A year later, he entered Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary.

 
He was active as a layman in his home parish and on a diocesan and national level. He started as an altar server, progressed to a youth group leader and then charismatic prayer group leader. In his parish, he was leader of the liturgical committee, leader of the Haitian Charismatic Prayer Group, extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, member of the parish council, member of the finance board and parish trustee.

In October 2009, he received the St. Augustine Medal of Service from the Diocese of Bridgeport. In 2014, at the fourth diocesan synod, he served as delegate of the Haitian Community and St. Joseph Parish. Currently, he is a member of the Haitian National Charismatic Committee in New York.

Dignitary priests in attendance were Father Brian Kiely, rector of Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary; Msgr. Joseph Malagreca, chaplain of the Haitian National Renouveau Charismatic Group; Msgr. James Mongelluzzo, faculty member at the seminary and Father Vincent Daily, spiritual director at the seminary.

Quincy Réginald Dormévil, Father Dormévil’s great-nephew presented the first reading and Romelle Thomas Etienne, his niece, gave the second reading in French.

“Due to my involvement in the Church, many people used to call me Father Guy,” he recalled. It was my dream to become a deacon, but I never thought about being a priest, because I didn’t feel worthy of such a great blessing…. Soon after the death of my wife, many people asked me to consider becoming a priest, including my late wife’s mother, who for the second time had asked me, ‘Why don’t you become a priest?’ It was the same question she had asked me the first time I met her, while I was dating my late wife. I regard all these inquiries as signs that the Lord was preparing me.”

Father Dormévil said his father Gustave prayed for his first son to become a priest, but not for Guy, his youngest son, to be one. “However, being ordained 39 years after my father’s death, I consider my call as the fruit of his continued prayer in heaven,” he said.

By Joe Pisani