Salesians honor five Jubilarians of the Paterson Diocese

On Sept. 30, the Salesians of Don Bosco celebrated the jubilees of religious profession or ordination of 21 Salesians, including five, who come from or have served the Paterson Diocese. The celebration was held at the Marian Shrine in Haverstraw, N.Y., with the provincial, Father Dominic Tran, presiding and preaching. The five Salesian jubilarians of the diocese are as follows:

Father William Keane, 78, celebrated the 60th anniversary of his first profession that took place in Newton in 1963. He was director of the former Don Bosco Technical High School in Paterson from 1990-1996 and served Salesian schools in New York, Florida, and Louisiana, and Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey. He was master of novices from 2003-2015 and vice provincial from 2003-2009. Father Keane also served the Salesian Boys & Girls Club in East Boston. He recently retired to the Salesian community in Tampa.

 

Father Henry Bonetti, 80, a native of Clifton, celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination that took place in Columbus, Ohio, in 1973. He entered the Salesians as a high school seminarian, made his novitiate in Newton, and then left as a missionary to Korea. There, he has been a teacher, retreat preacher, vice provincial, director, formator, diocesan director of youth ministry, and professor in the Salesians’ regional school of theology in the Philippines.

 

Father Joseph Hannon, 80, celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination that took place in Columbus, Ohio, in 1973. He was a teacher and coordinator of religious activities at the former Don Bosco Tech in Paterson from 1976 to 1981. During that period, he became a chaplain in the U.S. Army Reserves. After more years of teaching, including seven years at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, and part-time chaplaincy, he became an active-duty chaplain in 1992, serving around the world, including Afghanistan. He retired as a colonel in 2010 and returned to high school teaching in Florida.

 

Father James “Jay” Horan, 70, celebrated the 50th anniversary of his first profession as a Salesian, which took place in Newton in 1973. He served campus ministry at the former Don Bosco Tech in Paterson from 1986-1992 and again from 1998-2002. He also served as vice director in the Salesian community there. Father Horan served in Salesian schools in Tampa, New Jersey, and Louisiana. He has been on the retreat team at the Salesian retreat center in Haverstraw, N.Y., the Salesians’ formation staff in Orange, N.J., and the Salesian Boys & Girls Clubs in Columbus, Ohio, and East Boston. Since 2019, Father Horan has overseen elder care at the Salesian retirement community in Tampa.

 

Father Abraham Feliciano, 49, who was born in Paterson, celebrated the 25th anniversary of his first profession, which took place in 1998 in Rosemead, Calif, after entering the Salesians the year before. In Paterson, he belonged to St. Anthony Parish and graduated from St. Anthony School and the former Don Bosco Tech. Father Feliciano taught at Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey from 1998-2000 and is now director of the Salesian community there. He also taught or was campus minister at Salesian schools in New York, Louisiana, and Maryland and was the New Rochelle Province’s coordinator of youth ministry and a member of the provincial council from 2012-2021.