Top photo caption: Father Jean Felicien and Bishop O’Connell are shown following a Mass marking Father Felicien’s 10th anniversary of priestly Ordination. File photo
By Mary Stadnyk, Associate Editor
With the range of experience he has garnered working with Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., for the past five years, Father Jean Felician was a natural choice to be named the Diocese’s newest chancellor.
But still, Father Felicien, who has served as vice chancellor of canonical services in the diocesan Tribunal and episcopal secretary and master of ceremonies to the Bishop, admits to being “very much surprised” by the appointment.
“Father Jean Felicien has been a faithful priest secretary to the bishop as well as a meticulous master of ceremonies for several years,” Bishop O’Connell said in announcing the appointment. “His background and expertise in canon law and his work in the Diocesan Tribunal provide an excellent background for the position of diocesan chancellor. I depend greatly upon his support and advice as I shepherd the Diocese. He is admired by our priests and others on the diocesan staff as well as parishioners in the many parishes he serves regularly.”
Father Felicien’s appointment as chancellor is effective on July 1. He will succeed current chancellor, Terry Ginther, who will retire on July 2. Along with his new role as chancellor, he will continue in his current positions as the Bishop’s episcopal secretary and master of ceremonies and in the Tribunal, advising on issues such as granting dispensations or permission for interfaith “mixed” marriages.
A diocesan chancellor is a position that’s mandated by canon law for every Diocese. Father Felicien’s duties will include working closely with Bishop O’Connell and Msgr. Thomas Gervasio, vicar general, as a member of the Bishop’s curia (governing body). He will serve as the chief archivist for the Diocese, seeing to it that the records of the curia are arranged, preserved and safeguarded. He will also serve as the notary, secretary of the curia and assume any other duties that are assigned to him by the Bishop.
‘Twelve good years’
When reflecting on his priestly ministry, Father Jean (as he is best known) said it’s been “a good 12 years in many ways.”
His vocation to priesthood began in his native Haiti where he initially pursued becoming a Redemptorist order priest. He studied at the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince’s major seminary, The Grand Seminare Notre Dame d’Haiti, where he earned a degree in philosophy, followed by a year of theology studies in the Central Institute for Religious Formation. His family immigrated to the United States in 2008 and settled in Georgia. While visiting a friend in New Jersey, he was introduced to the Trenton Diocese.
Father Jean continued his formation in St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Baltimore, and was ordained a priest by Bishop O’Connell May 31, 2014 in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton.
Following his Ordination, Father Jean was assigned as parochial vicar in Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony Parish, Hamilton, a faith community with a significant Haitian population. He then went to The Catholic University of America, Washington, to pursue canon law studies, earning his degree in 2021. When he returned to the Diocese, he began serving in the Tribunal as adjutant judicial vicar and a Tribunal judge. He was also named parochial vicar of the parishes comprising the Catholic Community of Hopewell Valley – St. James, Pennington; St. George, Titusville, and St. Alphonsus, Hopewell. In January 2023, he was appointed Bishop O’Connell’s full-time secretary and master of ceremonies.
As he looks forward to becoming chancellor, Father Jean said how especially grateful he is to have studied canon law and for the opportunity to work in the field.
“It’s a position you carry on behalf of the Bishop in overseeing the governance of the Diocese,” he said. “It’s a very important position for the Church, a canonical function.”
He added that he is grateful that the experience he gained in the Tribunal will serve him well in his chancellor role, and added, “It’s a position I’m happy to fulfill.”