Gerardo Joseph Colacicco

Colacicco was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, the eldest of four children of Angelo and Irma Colacicco.[1] and grew up in a tight knit extended family that attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and St. Mary's.[2] His father, having retired from the Post Office, became a custodian at St. Mary's, where Colacicco himself, during high school and college, worked at the rectory. He identifies St. Mary's pastor, Matthew J. Cox, and Mount Carmel's Joseph Maria Pernicone as having had a great influence on him.

He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history from Marist College, with minors in philosophy and Russian studies. He then entered Saint Joseph's Seminary (Dunwoodie).[3] During his studies Colacicco served as a deacon at Sacred Heart Church in Newburgh, New York. On November 6, 1982, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of New York by Terence Cardinal Cooke.[2]

Colacicco served as parochial vicar at Good Shepherd Parish in Rhinebeck, Our Lady of Fatima in Scarsdale, and at St. Denis Church (Hopewell Junction, New York).[2] In 1989 he became secretary to John Cardinal O'Connor.[1] In 1992 Colacicco received a Licentiate of Canon Law from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome.[3] He then became director of pastoral formation at St. Joseph’s Seminary.

Colacicco returned to Sacred Heart as pastor is 1996. He was made a monsignor in 1999, and in 2002 became pastor of St. Columba's Church (Hopewell Junction, New York) where he remained until 2014 when he moved to St. Joseph Church in Millbrook, New York.[1] Colacicco is a member of the Knights of Columbus and an Associate Chaplain for the New York State Council.

Pope Francis appointed Colacicco auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of New York on October 10, 2019.[4][5] On December 10, 2019, Colacicco was consecrated as a bishop. He serves as the Episcopal Vicar for the northern counties of the Archdiocese of New York, which include Dutchess, Orange, Ulster, and Sullivan counties.[6]

In April 2020, as part of the Good Friday liturgy at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Bishop Colacicco gave a mediation on the Seven Last Words spoken by Jesus from the Cross. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the service was livestreamed. His reflections were subsequently published in Beneath the Cross.[6]

• Archdiocese of New York Official Site