Monsignor Joseph P. LaMorte, Vicar General
Joseph P. LaMorte, son of Joseph and Kathryn (Apolito), the first of their three children, was born in Mount Vernon on July 25, 1950, and was raised in the Wakefield neighborhood of the Bronx. He attended St. Anthony School and Mount Saint Michael Academy there, and later earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from St. John’s University, a Master of Divinity from St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, and a Master of Science in Pastoral Counseling from Iona University.
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Father LaMorte was ordained to the priesthood by Terence Cardinal Cooke on October 31, 1981, at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Prior to ordination, he spent his deacon internship year at St. Boniface, Wesley Hills. From 1981 to 1985 he served as parochial vicar at Blessed Sacrament, West Brighton, Staten Island. He was a member of the Parish Mission Team, which was the preaching apostolate of the archdiocese (1985 to 1989), served as parochial vicar, administrator, and pastor at Holy Trinity, Poughkeepsie (1989-2010) and pastor of St. Gregory Barbarigo, Garnerville (2010-2018). From 2008 to 2018, he was chair of the archdiocesan presbyteral council. In December 2018, he was named chancellor (an office he held for a year) and vicar general. In 2019, he was also appointed moderator of the curia.
Before beginning his priestly formation, Father LaMorte was a Catholic school lay teacher (1973-1977). He served for 40 years, first as an enlisted airman and then as a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve and New York Air National Guard, retiring in 2012 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was named Chaplain to His Holiness, Pope Francis in 2019. He is a fourth-degree Knight of Columbus.
What is a Vicar General?
A vicar general is the principal deputy to and the alter ego of the bishop of a diocese, an agent in central administration, acting as second-in-command, with executive power over the whole diocese, caring for its day-to-day activities. He is the equivalent of a chief operating officer to ensure that diocesan structures will always be at the service of God’s faithful and that administrative demands should not take precedence over the care of people, but rather be a help and support to them and to the priests who serve.
He must be a priest and has the title of local ordinary. He is to report more important affairs to the diocesan bishop, maintaining frequent communication, and must always act according to the bishop’s intention and mind.
While the historical origins of this office date back to the fourth century, the Second Vatican Council spoke of it as “the most important office in the diocesan curia”, and the 1983 Code of Canon Law established it as a mandatory office in the organizational structure of a diocese.