Four priests get new assignments

Staff report

youngstown

Bishop George V. Murry has made the following appointments for clergy assignments in the Diocese of Youngstown:

The Rev. Thomas Acker, administrator of Sts. Philip and James Parish in Canal Fulton, effective Sept. 21.

The Rev. Lawrence Frient, pastor of St. Louis Parish in Louisville, effective Nov. 22.

The Rev. Robert Miller, associate pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Ravenna, effective Nov. 15.

The Rev. John Tully, associate pastor of St. Mary Parish in Massillon, effective Nov. 15.

Father Acker was ordained in 1963 for the Society of Jesus. He came to the Youngstown diocese in September as assistant to the bishop for special projects. Father Acker is chief executive officer of Forward Southern West Virginia and chairman and CEO of The Higher Education Foundation in Beckley, W.Va. He previously served as dean of Future Generations Graduate School; president of Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia; dean of arts and sciences at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia; associate professor of biology at the University of San Francisco; project director for the U.S. Peace Corps in Nepal; Fulbright professor at Tribhuvan University in Nepal; associate professor of biology at the University of Detroit and at John Carroll University in Cleveland.

Father Frient was ordained in 1984. He served as associate pastor at St. Stephen Parish in Niles, St. Patrick Parish in Kent and St. Joseph Parish in Austintown. Father Frient was pastor at Our Lady of Victory Parish in Andover and St. Patrick Parish in Kinsman. He currently serves as pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Niles. Father Frient also served as Trumbull County Boy Scout chaplain and was a member of the diocesan Presbyteral Council.

Father Miller was ordained in 2002. His served as associate pastor at St. Patrick Parish in Hubbard, St. Patrick Parish in Kent, and most currently at St. Mary Parish in Massillon. Father Miller also served as administrator at St. James Parish in Waynesburg.

Father Tully, ordained in 1969, has served as associate pastor at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Ashtabula and St. Mary Parish in Massillon. He served as pastor at Sacred Heart Parish and was a faculty member at Ursuline High School. Father Tully’s most recent assignment was pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Salineville (now closed), St. John Parish in Summitville and St. Philip Neri Parish in Dungannon. He also was a religion teacher at Sts. John and Paul School in Ashtabula; and served as chaplain for the Oblate Sisters in Hubbard and Knights of Columbus.