Bernie TomassoBernard Tomasso, OFS, is the new regional minister of Secular Franciscan Order’s St. Kateri Tekakwitha Region. He was elected to a three-year term at the region’s Chapter of Elections, held June 4-6 at Notre Dame Retreat House in Canandaigua. Some 50 representatives from local fraternities across upstate New York were in attendance.

Bernie succeeds Carol Onuffer, OFS, who served as regional minister for the past five years.

Also elected to the Regional Executive Council were:

⁃    Vice Minister Layna Maher, OFS.

⁃    Secretary Debra Goodlander, OFS.

⁃    Treasurer Craig Miller, OFS.

– Formation Director Louis Alfonsetti, OFS,

⁃    Councilors: Lee Strong, OFS; Mary Lou Gresham, OFS; John Potenciano, OFS, and Ana Santacrocce, OFS.

In addition, Franciscan Sister Pat Schofield, OSF, and Franciscan Father Emmanuel “Manny” Wenke, OFM Conv., join the executive council as spiritual assistants.

ABOUT MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

Regional Minister Bernie Tomasso, OFS, is also minister of Our Lady of Angels Fraternity, Auburn. He was professed in April 2013 at Assumption Church in Syracuse and became involved in organizing and reactivating Our Lady of Angels Fraternity, which was completed in 2019 with 15 members. He has been chairing the region’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) program. In addition, he has been active in Knights of Columbus and he facilitates bereavement groups. He is a retired school librarian. He and his wife of 53 years, Margie, were professed as Secular Franciscans together.

Vice Minister Layna Maher, OFS, is minister of St. Thomas Fraternity, Fonda. She has been formation director for the region and is chair of the National Formation Commission. She was professed in May 1999. Layna serves on the advisory council of the National St. Kateri Shrine in Fonda and runs confirmation retreats at the shrine for high school students. She also volunteers at the shrine for numerous activities. She is a Eucharistic minister and lector at St. Cecilia Parish, Fonda. In her professional life, she is assistant director of training for NY State Justice Center in Albany.

Regional Secretary Debra Goodlander, OFS, is a member of St. Anthony Fraternity, Lockport. Professed in September 2005, she formerly was vice minister and secretary of her fraternity. She is a retired secretary and activity leader who worked in nursing homes.

Regional Treasurer Craig Miller, OFS, is a councilor with St. Francis Fraternity in Binghamton. He begins his second term as regional treasurer. In his fraternity, he co-chaired St. Cyril’s Food Pantry for six years before it closed during the pandemic. He is retired and previously worked in the electrical department at Lowe’s.

Regional Formation Director Louis Alfonsetti, OFS, is a member of St. Francis Fraternity in Binghamton. Professed in June 2021, he also has served as formation director for his local fraternity. In his parish he has served as a music director, musician, lay ecclesial minister working with various parish committees, and parish representative to the Diocesan Pastoral Council. Louis is a retired systems engineer.

COUNCILORS

Regional Councilor Lee Strong, OFS, is minister of Glory of the Most High Fraternity, Rochester. Professed in July 2011, he was a a fraternity councilor and is in his third term as minister. He is vice chair of the Parish Council at Holy Family Parish in Rochester as well as a lector and food pantry volunteer. He also is co-founder of Margaret House, which serves pregnant women and new mothers, and the Rochester Chapter of Pax Christi. A “professional Santa,” Lee sports a real white beard and performs at parishes and other organizations. A retired high school and middle school teacher, Lee taught for 25 years at Catholic and private schools. Prior to teaching, he was a reporter and associate editor at the Catholic Courier, the Rochester diocesan newspaper.

Regional Councilor Mary Lou Gresham, OFS, is vice minister of St. Francis Fraternity in Binghamton.  She begins her second term as a regional councilor. In her local fraternity she has been a member of the formation team. For the past 30 years she has been a substitute teacher in the Binghamton school district. She was professed in August 2011.

Regional Councilor Dr. John Potenciano, DNP, OFS, is vice minister of St. Bernardine of Siena Fraternity, Loudonville. He is active in Christ the King Church in Guilderland as a lector and pastoral advisory council member. With his fraternity, he helps coordinate outreach efforts with other groups to provide food and clothing to those in need, including the homeless. He was professed in September 2021. He has a private practice as a primary care provider.

Regional Councilor Ann Santacrocce, OFS, is a member of St. Francis Fraternity in Binghamton. Professed in September 1993, she had served on the formation team and is involved in outreach to those in need. In her parish she is a Eucharistic minister and involved in the Altar Rosary Society and Perpetual Adoration. She works as a home health aide.

SPIRITUAL ASSISTANTS

Sister Patricia “Pat” Schofield, OSF, affectionately known as  “Sister-Mom,” belongs to the Sisters of St. Francis of the Neumann Communities. She gained national media attention for her unique life path: raising eight children and working a teaching career in Utica public schools before entering the convent later in life. She began her Franciscan journey as a member of the Secular Franciscan Order. In 1997, while volunteering with the Franciscans in Action program in Kentucky, she was inspired to pursue her childhood dream of entering the religious life. After paying off her bills and seeing her youngest child through college, she gave away most of her material possessions. In 1998, at 53 years of age, she formally entered the Sisters of St. Francis. She has served as a pastoral minister, and spent time serving in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Father Emmanuel “Manny” Wenke, OFM Conv. is a Conventual Franciscan friar belonging to the Our Lady of the Angels Province. He was ordained to the priesthood on August 15, 2023, by Archbishop Gregory J. Hartmayer at Our Lady of Victory Basilica in Lackawanna, New York. His ministry focuses on secondary education, pastoral care, and campus youth formation in the Buffalo area. Father Emmanuel teaches and serves as the campus minister at St. Francis High School in Athol Springs, just outside of Buffalo. Before his current assignment, he taught theology at Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore, He grew up in Olean, NY, one of six children in a religious family (his father is a deacon and his sister, a contemplative nun).