PORTLAND — Bishop Robert P. Deeley has announced two additional priest assignments and a retirement.

Assignments

Effective July 1, Fr. Patrick Efé-egiughwe Agbodi, SMA, has been appointed parochial vicar of St. Michael Parish (St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Augusta; St. Augustine Church, Augusta; St. Joseph Church, Gardiner; Sacred Heart Church, Hallowell; St. Denis Church, Whitefield; and St. Francis Xavier Church, Winthrop).

Agbodi has been serving at St. Joseph Parish in Bridgton and St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Norway, since arriving in Maine in March.

Born in Nigeria in 1968, Agbodi was accepted as a seminarian for the Society of African Missions in 1990. He completed his philosophical studies at Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Major Seminary in Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1995. After completing a spiritual formation year in the Republic of Benin and a pastoral year in Ivory Coast, he completed his theological studies at the Catholic Institute of West Africa, also in Ivory Coast, in 2000. He was ordained to the priesthood on July 1, 2000, at St. Patrick Church in Asaba, Nigeria.

Agbodi has served as an assistant parish priest in Liberia (2000-2002), Nigeria (2002-2003), and Tanzania (2003-2010). During his eight years in Tanzania, he also served as director of vocations for the SMA’s Tanzanian Region and as a vice regional superior. From 2010 to 2012, Agbodi was a formator and burser for the SMA House of Formation in Ibadan, Nigeria. Since 2012, he has served as an assistant parish priest at St. Joseph Church in Lagos (2012-2013), a parish priest at Sacred Heart Church in Lagos (2013-2015), and an assistant parish priest at St. Mary Church in Lagos (2016-2017).

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Effective Aug. 1, Fr. Anthanasius Sangnyuy Wirsiy has been appointed hospital chaplain at Maine Medical Center and Mercy Hospital in Portland, and parochial vicar for the Portland Peninsula and Island Parishes (Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Parish, Portland; Sacred Heart/St. Dominic Parish, Portland; St. Christopher Parish, Peaks Island; St. Louis Parish, Portland; and St. Peter Parish, Portland).

Wirsiy has assisted in the Portland hospitals and parishes since arriving in Maine from the Diocese of Kumbo in Cameroon in January. Born in 1971, Fr. Athanasius was raised in a Catholic family with three sisters. He began his priestly formation in 1993 at St. John Mary Vianney Spiritual Center in Njinikom, Cameroon. He completed his clerical studies and earned bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and divinity at St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Bambui, Cameroon.

Wirsiy was ordained to the priesthood on April 24, 2003, by Bishop Cornelius Eusa, then-Bishop of Kumbo. Since his ordination, Wirsiy has served in the Diocese of Kumbo as chaplain at St. Augustine College in Nso (2003-2005); parish priest at Assumption Parish in Mbiame (2005-2007); rector of St. Aloysius Minor Seminary (2007-2010); and diocesan finance secretary (2010-2016).

Retirement

Effective Aug. 1, Fr. Richard C. McLaughlin will retire from active ministry. McLaughlin is currently hospital chaplain at Maine Medical Center and Mercy Hospital, both in Portland, and parochial vicar for the Portland Peninsula and Island parishes (Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception Parish, Portland; Sacred Heart/St. Dominic Parish, Portland; St. Christopher Parish, Peaks Island; St. Louis Parish, Portland; St. Peter Parish, Portland).

Born in Meriden, Connecticut, McLaughlin completed his clerical studies at Passionist Congregation in West Hartford, Connecticut, and St. John’s University in Jamaica, New York.

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On May 31, 1974, he was ordained a priest for the Passionist Order at Immaculate Conception Monastery, Jamaica, New York, by Bishop Francis Mugavero of the Diocese of Brooklyn. From 1975 to 1978, McLaughlin pursued doctoral studies in religious symbolism at Fordham University in Bronx, New York, completing them in 1983.

While serving as a Passionist priest, McLaughlin was associate retreat director at retreat houses in Connecticut and New York and ministered to six churches in West Virginia. McLaughlin arrived in Maine in 1986 (incardinated in the Diocese of Portland in 1989). In August 1986, he was named temporary administrator of St. Sebastian Parish in Madison. In July 1987, he was appointed parochial vicar of Sacred Heart Parish in Portland and served as a chaplain at Maine Medical Center in Portland.

In July 1989, McLaughlin was named pastor of St. Benedicta Parish in Benedict and St. Joseph Parish in Sherman. In July 1990, in addition to his duties in Benedict and Sherman, he was appointed pastor of St. Agnes Parish in Island Falls and St. Paul Parish in Patten. In July 1993, McLaughlin was appointed pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Lewiston and named to the board of directors for St. Dominic Regional High School.

In August 2002, he was named pastor of St. John Parish in Bangor, where he served until July 2008 when he was appointed vicar for priests and the director of ministerial services for the Diocese of Portland. In January 2009, in addition to his appointments at the diocese, McLaughlin was named parochial vicar at St. Joseph Parish in Ellsworth and Stella Maris Parish in Bucksport.

In July 2009, he was appointed pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Auburn and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (now St. Teresa of Calcutta) Parish in Norway. In August 2013, McLaughlin was appointed to his current assignments as hospital chaplain at Maine Medical Center and Mercy Hospital and parochial vicar for the Portland Peninsula & Island Parishes. In 2014, in addition to those duties, he also provided weekend pastoral assistance at the Parish of the Holy Eucharist in Falmouth.

A friar of the Knights of Columbus, McLaughlin also served for many years on the Diocesan school board, the Diocesan Presbyteral Council and as director of chaplaincy services.

Fr. Patrick Efé-egiughwe Agbodi

Fr. Anthanasius Sangnyuy Wirsiy

Fr. Richard C. McLaughlin


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