The Most Reverend Peter Byrne
The Most Reverend Peter Byrne was born to John and Dorothy (Nolan) Byrne in Manhattan, New York on July 24, 1951.
He attended Immaculate Conception Elementary School in Manhattan and Cardinal Hayes High School in Bronx, New York. In 1983, he earned a bachelor of arts (BA) degree from Fordham University, the Rose Hill (Bronx) campus, with a concentration in history/social studies.
Bishop Byrne entered the archdiocese’s major theologate, Saint Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, New York in 1974, and was granted a leave of absence in 1977. Between 1977 and 1984, he taught at Holy Name of Jesus Elementary School in Valhalla, New York and Bishop Ford High School in Brooklyn, New York. He returned to Saint Joseph’s Seminary in 1983, and on December 1, 1984, was ordained a priest by Archbishop John O’Connor in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. His first assignment was as parochial vicar for Holy Family Parish in the Bronx.
In 1992, Cardinal O’Connor appointed Bishop Byrne as administrator for Saint Thomas Aquinas Parish in the Bronx, with Bishop Francisco Garmendia as pastor and episcopal vicar. Two years later, in 1994, Cardinal O’Connor appointed him administrator of Immaculate Conception and Saint John the Baptist Parishes on Staten Island, New York, becoming pastor in 1995. Since July 2013, he has served as pastor of Saint Elizabeth Parish in Manhattan.
Following the World Trade Center tragedy of September 11, 2001, Father Byrne volunteered his priestly service to bereaved families for many weeks at the Ground Zero Morgue.
Bishop Byrne is fluent in English, Spanish, and French.