Msgr. Sam A. Sirianni was born in 1954 in Long Branch and is the son of Marie and the late Anthony Sirianni. A native of Holy Trinity Parish (now part of Christ the King Parish), Long Branch, he is a graduate of Long Branch High School; Juniata College, Huntingdon, Pa., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history, and Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he earned a master of arts degree in student personnel services.
Msgr. Sirianni worked for the Long Branch Department of Recreation for 18 months and, in August 1979, became director of parish ministry in Holy Trinity Parish, where he established senior and youth programs before entering Immaculate Conception Seminary, Darlington.
Msgr. Sirianni was ordained a deacon Dec. 4, 1983, and served his transitional diaconate year assignment in St. Gregory the Great Parish, Hamilton Square.
Following his Nov. 10, 1984, priestly ordination in Holy Trinity Church by then-Auxiliary Bishop Edward U. Kmiec, Msgr. Sirianni’s first assignment was as parochial vicar of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Moorestown. He then went to Our Lady of Sorrows Parish (now part of Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony Parish), Hamilton, where he served intermittent terms as parochial vicar and administrator. After serving as administrator of St. Catherine Parish, Middletown, Msgr. Sirianni was named to his first pastorate in Holy Angels (now part of St. Raphael-Holy Angels) Parish, Hamilton. Subsequent appointments as pastor include St. George Parish, Titusville; Holy Trinity, Our Lady Star of the Sea and St. John the Baptist, all Long Branch, and St. Robert Bellarmine Parish, Freehold, to which he was named pastor in December 2008.
In 1992, while he was parochial vicar of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, then-Father Sirianni was appointed by Bishop John C. Reiss to become director of the Office of Liturgy, a position which he held until 2015, although the office has since been renamed to the Office of Worship.
Msgr. Sirianni has held a host of additional assignments including as an Engaged Encounter team priest; spiritual director of an AIDS ministry; dean of the Southern Mercer Deanery; a member of the steering committee for the diocesan Millennium observance; a member of the reconstituted Council of Priests; vice rector of St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, and assistant chancellor of Worship and Special Events, and co-chaplain of the Trenton Serra Club.
In December, 2010, Msgr. Sirianni was named by Pope Benedict XVI as a Chaplain of His Holiness with the title of Monsignor. On Nov. 23, 2013, he was invested as a Knight in the Equestrian of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
With St. Robert Bellarmine Parish’s being elevated to Co-Cathedral status, Msgr. Sirianni serves as pastor of the parish community and as rector of the Co-Cathedral.