VENICE – The rector of Epiphany Cathedral has retired after having been part of the community since 2008 and spent his adult life with it.
Father John “Jack” Costello’s last day as rector in Venice was May 31st, but he was celebrating mass the next week to bid farewell, the Church said.
“For the past 13 years we have grown in the presence of the Lord in the world today,” Costello said in a press release. “Thank you for answering this challenge through masses, novenas, rosaries, worship, Bible study, and more. We all continued to grow in the Catholic faith … we were a community that lives responsibility as a way of life. “
During these masses, he brought messages of thanks and love to the community, while the community gave him recognition and standing ovations – many Disney-themed things since enjoying the Orlando parks.
“We are blessed to have Father Jack with us for so long,” said Martha Gimble. “He really is a holy man.”
As rector, he oversaw the renovation of the rectory, the restoration of stained glass windows, the installation of a worship chapel and the modernization of the Catholic Epiphany Cathedral School, the press release said. He also moderated diocesan events and much more, it was said.
He has helped expand the reach of the community and grow from 40 to 110 active programs, it said.
“This has continued to grow as we do our best to strengthen one another … We have given the opportunity for everyone to do something special that shows the world God.”
Msgr. Patrick DuBois, the new rector, said it was impossible to explain how much Costello meant to the Church of the Three Kings and the Diocese of Venice.
“Thank you Father Jack from the bottom of my heart for all of your years of dedicated and unwavering and faithful service to each and every one here at Epiphany Cathedral,” said DuBois.
He was a Christian brother for 25 years and served as a teacher near Miami before entering the priesthood in “the next logical step in his dedication to Christ,” the news release said.
“I wanted to come into contact with people on a spiritual level, and I couldn’t do that as a teacher,” he said in an interview before his ordination in the Epiphany on October 25, 1996. “I wanted to be in a spirituality-oriented ministry, in be active in the preparation of the sacraments and in pastoral care. “
Born in 1950 in Boston, Massachusetts, he attended Iona College in New Rochelle, NY, St. Michael’s College in Burlington, Vermont, and later St. Vincent de Paul Seminary in Boynton Beach.
For the diocese of Venice he was parish vicar in the parish of St. William in Naples; then pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Bradenton before being appointed rector of Epiphany Cathedral by Bishop Frank J. Dewane in 2008.
He plans to relax in Fort Myers Beach, where he plans to live, while continuing to visit Disney World.
