Three Salesians to Be Ordained

By Fr. Mike Mendl, SDB

(New Rochelle, NY – June 21) – Brs. Lenny Carlino and Steve DeMaio will be ordained to the presbyterate, and Br. Ky Nguyen to the diaconate, on Saturday, June 26, at St. John Bosco Church in Port Chester.

Both Br. Lenny and Br. Steve studied theology at the Ratisbonne in Jerusalem from 2017 to 2021. Br. Ky has been studying at Immaculate Conception Seminary, attached to Seton Hall University, in South Orange, NJ.

Br. Lenny was born in 1991 in Stony Brook, NY. His parents are Leonard Carlino Sr. and Linda Carlino. All of them have made their home in Hauppauge, NY, and have been parishioners of St. Thomas More Church there.

Br. Lenny came to know of the Salesians through the presence of Salesian Cooperators at St. Thomas More, which led to his participation in Salesian youth ministry retreats. He became a candidate in August 2009. At Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ, he earned a B.A. in Catholic theology, followed by an M.A. in religious education from Fordham University in the Bronx. At the Ratisbonne, he earned a bachelor’s degree in sacred theology; his thesis was titled “Consecration and the Recapitulation of All Things in Christ.”

Br. Lenny entered the novitiate in Rosemead, CA, in 2013 and made his first profession on August 16, 2014, at Haverstraw and his perpetual profession on August 17, 2019, also at Haverstraw. He completed two years of practical training at Archbishop Shaw High School in Marrero, LA, teaching religion and assisting with band and choir (2015-2017). He has found his eleven years of Salesian life a beautiful “life of consecration in prayer, community, and mission. I’ve been blessed to meet Salesians from many different contexts, backgrounds, and countries. While we are all unique, we share this identity as sons of Don Bosco and followers of Christ as ministers of the Church to young people.”

As a newly ordained priest, Br. Lenny is assigned to St. John Bosco Parish in Port Chester as parochial vicar and coordinator of youth ministry. There he hopes “to personalize and truly interiorize the priestly ministerial identity through the practice of the ministry at St. John Bosco parish, especially among the young people of the village.”

Br. Steve is the son of Steven and Theresa DeMaio of Ave Maria, FL. He was born in Danbury, CT, in 1985. His original hometown was Sherman, CT. He earned a B.A. in business administration at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. At the Ratisbonne, he earned a bachelor’s degree in sacred theology; his thesis was titled “Created, Accompanied and Divinized in Trinitarian Friendship.”

After his college graduation, Br. Steve met the Salesian Sisters in Lusaka, Zambia, while working for a Spanish NGO. That encounter induced him to join the Salesians in 2010. He entered the novitiate at Rosemead in 2011 and made his first profession on August 21, 2012, at New Rochelle. He made his perpetual profession on September 7, 2018, at Haverstraw. He completed three years of practical training (2014-2017) at Salesian High School in New Rochelle, teaching religion and serving as campus minister.

He speaks of his Salesian experience thus far as having “been one of healing and growth towards a deeper and more intimate relationship with God through my encounter with my Salesian brothers and the many people I have encountered on the way.”

Newly ordained, he will return to New Rochelle to assist in the province’s vocation office. He “hopes to be a dedicated and authentic Salesian priest wherever God sends me.”

Br. Ky Nguyen born in 1986 in Dakmil, Vietnam. He is the son of Peter Minh Xuan Nguyen and Mary Hoang Dang. He got his early education in Vietnam, up to a B.A. in material science from the University of Natural Science in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam.

Br. Ky knew the Salesians early in life because his father is a Salesian past pupil. He entered the Salesians as a candidate in 2004 and made his novitiate in 2010-2011 in Ho Chi Minh City, professing first vows on August 14, 2011. After immigrating to the U.S. in 2016 to rejoin his family, he made his perpetual profession on August 17, 2019, at Haverstraw.

Br. Ky did his practical training in the Salesian boarding school at Bao Loc, Vietnam, teaching computer science and providing general assistance to the students, and at Salesian High School in New Rochelle as a campus minister (2017-2018). In the Salesian community of Orange, he continues youth ministry activities.

Concerning his Salesian life in two countries, he writes: “Being a professed Salesian for ten years has offered me chances to follow Christ in Don Bosco’s charism, i.e., to serve young people. There have been up-and-down moments on this journey. But in general, it has been a beautiful journey. Like Mary, who said ‘Yes’ to the call to become the Mother of God without understanding what it means, I am also called to continue to say ‘Yes’ to God with a complete trust in his wisdom and providence.”

This summer, Deacon Nguyen will exercise his ministry at St. Rosalie and St. John Bosco parishes in Harvey. In the fall, he will continue his theological studies at Immaculate Conception Seminary. He says simply that he hopes to “continue to grow in faith, being closer to Jesus.”