UPDATED March 14, 2025
Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., announced that Father Ronald Joseph Cioffi, a retired priest of the Diocese for 55 years; former longtime pastor of St. Joseph Parish, Keyport, (now part of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Keyport) and director of the former diocesan Office of Social Concerns, died March 12.
Funeral services will begin March 16 with visitation from noon to 4 p.m. in Woolley-Boglioli Funeral Home, 10 Morrell Street, Long Branch, and followed by a Votive Mass of Jesus Christ the High Priest at 6 p.m. in St. Rose of Lima Chapel, Freehold. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated March 17 at 10:30 a.m. in St. Rose of Lima Chapel. Burial will be in Woodbine Cemetery, Oceanport.
Born in 1941 in Long Branch, Father Cioffi graduated from Red Bank Catholic High School and prepared for the priesthood in St. Charles Seminary, Catonsville, Md., and St. Mary Seminary and University, Baltimore. He also held a master’s degree in pastoral counseling from Iona College, New Rochelle, N.Y., and a second master’s degree in ecumenics from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Following his May 31, 1969 priestly ordination by Bishop George W. Ahr in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, Father Cioffi was assigned as parochial vicar of St. Joachim Parish, Trenton (now part of Our Lady of the Angels Parish, Trenton); St. Leo the Great Parish, Lincroft, and St. Mary Parish, South Amboy (which is now part of the Metuchen Diocese).
In 1977, Father Cioffi was transferred from St. Mary Parish to become a faculty member in St. Mary’s Seminary, Roland Park, Md. When he returned to the Diocese in 1981, he began his more than 30-year tenure with St. Joseph Parish, when he was named the parish’s parochial vicar, followed by appointments as temporary administrator and then as pastor in 1989.
For Father Cioffi, parish work dovetailed with the call to Catholic social teaching, and with his appointment as part-time director of the diocesan Office of Social Concerns, he focused attention on educating the faithful on affordable housing and the importance of bringing an end to the death penalty. His long tenure in St. Joseph Parish permitted him to promote Catholic social teaching there and he was able to develop numerous ministries including a vital and active St. Vincent de Paul Society, a health ministry and the longtime Haiti committee which gave parishioners an opportunity to provide outreach to the struggling nation.
Father Cioffi was an advocate for the Church’s outreach to the LGBTQ community and was also supportive of the Catholic Worker established by Dorothy Day where he made weekly visits, celebrated Mass and delivered donations of clothing and food collected by his parishioners.
Upon his retirement in 2016, Father Cioffi was interviewed by The Monitor in which he cited his work with the Haiti Committee and his participation in the million plus rally against nuclear weapons on the Great Lawn of Central Park while the United Nations held a Special Session on Disarmament as being two of a long list of highlights of a very meaningful life of faith in action. In retirement, Father Cioffi also celebrated Mass for the retired Christian Brothers living in De La Salle Hall, Lincroft, and the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, Wickatunk. He also assisted with celebrating Masses in area parishes and visited local hospitals and nursing home patients.
Father Cioffi was predeceased by his parents, Henry Michael and Jean Elizabeth (Strollo) Cioffi, his brother, Henry, and his nephew, Michael Cioffi. He is survived by his brother, Dr. Robert Cioffi; sister-in-law, Jean A. Cioffi; two nieces and a nephew; several grandnieces and grandnephews, cousins, and close friends including Father Anthony Carotenuto, a retired priest of the Diocese, and Father Cyril Johnson, who ministers in St. Gregory the Great Parish, Hamilton Square.
Memorial donations may be made to The Catholic Worker, catholicworker.org; Covenant House NYC, nycovenanthouse.org; Catholic Relief Services, crs.org, or Doctors Without Borders, doctorswithoutborders.org. Father Cioffi would also want to encourage those who are able to donate blood.