St. Stephen's Parish bids farewell to the Rev. Lorenzo Laboy

WARWICK — The well-attended 5 p.m. Mass on Saturday, June 24, was evidence of the love and affection that the members of the Church of St. Stephen, the First Martyr, felt for their Parochial Vicar, the Rev. Lorenzo Laboy.
It was a celebration of the last Mass he would say as a priest of the parish. Everyone was invited to a parish farewell reception that followed.
Earlier this month, the pastor of St. Stephen's, the Rev. Jack Arlotta, broke the news that Laboy, who had been at Saint Stephen's Parish since December 2015, had been reassigned to Saint Raymond Parish in the Bronx.
"We wish him well in his new assignment to the very busy parish of St. Raymond's, the mother church of the Bronx," the pastor said.
Laboy completed his theological studies at St. Joseph's Seminary and was ordained in 2013.
He was appointed to St. Stephen's by Cardinal Dolan after serving at his first parish, St. Elizabeth's Church in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan.
The son of Anselmo Laboy and Brunilda Acosta, he is the fourth of seven children and was raised in St. John Vianney parish in the Castle Hill section of the Bronx. He attended elementary school in the Bronx and graduated from Rice High School in Manhattan.
Laboy heard a call to the priesthood at a young age but dismissed it because at that time his true passion was to be an actor.
He earned a bachelor's degree in English and theater from Fordham University in 2003 and later became a member of the Screen Actors Guild.
While at St. Stephen's, Father Laboy became the in-house celebrant of the Spanish language Mass on the first and second Saturday evening of each month.
On the previous week, members of the Latino community bid him farewell with a reception following their Mass.
The Rev. Richard Marrano, presently the parochial vicar of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Manhattan, will be assigned to St. Stephen's as of July 1.
- Roger Gavan