Parish Staff
Rev. Frank Brewer
Pastor
I was born in Ottawa, but as my father was in the Air Force, we moved away shortly afterwards and continued to move very regularly until returning to Ottawa at the end of his military career. While I have lived in many places, Ottawa is 'home' - not an exciting city like Toronto or Montreal, but a very pleasant place to live.
It was only after university that I considered a vocation to the priesthood, and studied here in Ottawa at St. Paul University Seminary and at St. Joseph College of the Toronto School of Theology before being ordained by Archbishop Plourde in 1983. I served as Assistant Pastor at St. Martin de Porres Parish in Bells Corners and then Holy Cross Parish in Ottawa South before being named pastor of St. Jude Parish, Hawkesbury and Our Lady of Divine Love Parish, Pendleton, where I enjoyed five very good years. My next assignment was a six-year appointment as pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish in Kanata, where one of my more interesting projects was to establish a tradition of celebrating our first Mass of Christmas Eve on the ice surface at the (then) Corel Centre.
As the eldest in a family of eight, I am not afraid of infants and understand both children and the challenges of family life, so I am sympathetic to the needs and concerns of parents. As I am also the chaplain of the local 'Fourth Degree Assembly' of the Knights of Columbus, some of you know me already, and I appreciate your encouraging welcome.
In my letter in the bulletin of Sept. 2, I mentioned, among other things, that I am called to encourage you in growth in the life of faith and the love of Jesus Christ. I hope that with the help of God and your prayers, I will indeed be able to do so.
Yours in Christ
Rev. Hezuk Shroff
Associate Pastor
My name is Fr. Hezuk Shroff and I am a convert to Catholicism. I was born in Calcutta, India to parents who practise a very ancient religion known as Zoroastrianism. I converted to the Catholic Faith when I was working on my honours thesis in biochemistry at McGill University in the mid 1990s.
My path to Catholicism had me pass through evangelical Protestantism. I was introduced to the Scriptures and in particular to the beauty of God’s Word which is still very much alive in our world today. Little by little, I found myself being drawn into the Catholic Church as I discovered that the rich Tradition of Catholicism is strongly anchored in the Faith of the early Christian community. I fell in love with the Holy Eucharist, Our Lord’s greatest gift to mankind, along with the gift He left us of Our Blessed Mother. I came to see how the Communion of Saints means that we live our Faith not in isolation, but in communion with a vast “cloud of witnesses” (cf. Heb. 12:1) who help us to “keep our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our Faith” (cf. Heb. 12:2).
I quickly discovered how, in the Catholic Faith, the Sacraments are the very heart and soul of our relationship to God. I wanted to be more intimately associated with the Sacraments, and I began to feel within me God’s call to serve the Church in a fuller way. After spending several years exploring a vocation to religious life (in the U.S., in France, and in the Philippines), I finally understood that God was calling me to serve His Church as a diocesan, parish priest. I entered St. Augustine’s Seminary in Toronto in 2006, and was ordained to the Priesthood for the Archdiocese of Ottawa at Notre-Dame Cathedral on May 13, 2011, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima.
As a new priest, I am amazed at how God uses His ministers to bring others into a more intimate relationship with Him. The priest is truly a minister of Divine Mercy, and it is a privilege for me to have an encounter with the Mercy of God each and every time I celebrate the Sacraments.
Gary Bourgeois
Deacon
Born in Pembroke Ontario, my sister Sandi and I, enjoyed the privilege of being raised in a military family spending most of our youth travelling between Europe and Canada. Following in my father’s footsteps, I as well embarked on a military career which lasted nearly 25 years. During this period of my life, I met a beautiful young girl named Lise whom I married on December 21, 1968. God blessed us with two wonderful daughters and we are now the proud grandparents of 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Having recently been ordained on August 9th of this year, I join you from Blessed Sacrament Church where I was actively involved with seniors and have been and continue to serve at the Shepherds of Good Hope. I look forward to journeying with you over the coming years, getting to know you as a community and a Church, serving both your pastor and you wherever God leads.
Steve Donoghue
Deacon
My name is Deacon Steve Donoghue. Originally from the West Island of Montreal, my wife Blessilda and I were married at St. Thomas à Becket parish in Pierrefonds, Quebec, in June of 1991. We are blessed and proud to have three teenage sons – Ryan, Kevin and Brent. Our family joined Divine Infant parish in 1996. I was ordained a permanent deacon on August 9th, 2011 by Archbishop Terrence Prendergast at Notre-Dame Cathedral. Previous to and during my diaconate formation program, I was actively involved in ministry at Divine Infant as a Lector, Eucharistic Minister as well as a facilitator with the parish’s RCIT program. I have also spent time in ministry at the Ottawa Mission and several years in ministry at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Center, which is where my diocesan ministerial assignment will be. I am very excited to be assigned to my home parish and I look forward to serving the Divine Infant parish community in any way I can.
Jeffery Le Bane
Deacon and Parish Administrator
Deacon Jeff was ordained to the deaconate on Pentecost Sunday 2003, and was assigned to Divine Infant Church, his home parish. He was given specific responsibility for the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults ( RCIA ) and was also assigned to the diocesan RCIA committee. In 2004, he helped organize the RCIA Institute for the Archdiocese of Ottawa, which attracted participants from all across North America. In 2005, Deacon Jeff helped organize the parish's first RCIA program aimed specifically at teens. Following his retirement from the Public Service, Deacon Jeff was appointed part- time parish administrator in November 2005.
Vivian Pinto
Deacon
Deacon Vivian Pinto was ordained a permanent Deacon on October 3, 2010 at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Calgary by Bishop Frederick Henry. He was appointed to St. Patrick’s Parish where he actively participated on a daily basis. He moved with wife, Ophelia to Ottawa in April of 2011. They have 3 grown children – 2 sons and a daughter. Their youngest son did a tour of duty in Afghanistan serving with the Military Police and is now safely home.
Since arriving in Ottawa he has been appointed by Archbishop Terence Prendergast to serve at Divine Infant Parish. Vivian also volunteers at the Ottawa Mission and enjoys the outreach program.
He took early retirement in 1997 just to pursue his passion of volunteering. His entire career has been in the airline and travel industry in Dubai and Canada a total of 31 years.
Vivian was born and raised in Bombay, India but right after getting married they moved to Dubai and had the opportunity to travel to all the 5 continents and several cities in each of them.
Vivian is looking forward to enjoying his stay in Ottawa and getting to know as many parishioners as possible.
William Reggler
Deacon
Deacon Bill was ordained on Pentecost Sunday 2003, and was assigned to Divine Infant Church, his home parish. His ministry at Divine Infant Parish is the responsibility for the Sick and the Shut-ins which includes weekly services at the Madonna Long Term Care Home and visits to the Queenswood Villa. He is active in the Knights of Columbus. His ministry duties at the diocesan level include weekly services and bible study programs at the McLeod Retirement Home. He is also member of the St Patrick's Pastoral Care Team and the Professional Advisor Committee for the Madonna Long Term Care Home.
Michael Seath
Deacon
Deacon Michael has been married to his wife Anne since 1980. He entered the Roman Catholic Church on Pentecost Sunday 1982, having been raised in the Presbyterian Church. He was ordained to the Diaconate on June 25th, 1999. Michael and his family have been parishioners at Divine Infant since 1990. After ordination Michael was assigned to Divine Infant as his liturgical base. He and Anne have been involved in Marriage Preparation both at the diocesan and parish level and have recently become involved in marriage enrichment. Michael and Anne currently have responsibility for marriage preparation at Divine Infant Parish and Michael is also responsible for Baptismal ministry at the parish.
Chantal Leger
Youth Coordinator
I was born in Cornwall Ontario on September 27th, 1981. I spent 23 marvelous years growing up in a small town. When I was 23 a NET team came to Cornwall and started a LIFE TEEN program in our diocese. I quickly became part of there Core team and was inspired to serve with Net Ministries of Canada. The following year, I was on a NET team of my own and we served a year in Mississauga, Ontario. The hardest part about living in Mississauga was learning how to spell the word! We implemented a LIFE TEEN program in the heart of Mississauga. A teammate and myself decided to stay in Mississauga to be the Youth Coordinators after our NET Team left. Although I absolutely loved serving for a year as Youth Coordinator... God called me elsewhere.
In September of 2007, I moved to Ottawa and continued studying Theology at Dominican College University. I spent one great SEMESTER there when NET called me up and requested of me to join another NET team that would be heading to Divine Infant Parish in January of 2008. Upon a lot of prayer and thinking I gave my yes to God and served a great 6 months with Net again... here at DI. In those 6 months I fell in love with Divine Infant and the families here. In my personal prayer life God placed a very clear desire in my heart. He reminded me of my time in Mississauga and showed me that Youth Ministry was not just something that I liked doing but what He has designed for me to do.
God really knew what He wanted for my life, even though I could not see it the year before. My journey in the last 4 years has led me to Divine Infant Parish. I was thrilled to be accepted to be the Youth Coordinator here at DI and am looking forward to meeting as many people as I can.
I am very excited and greatly looking forward to growing the Youth Ministry in this parish, not just with LIFE TEEN and The EDGE but in many other facets of this Parish. There are many new things that are coming for all members of the parish so stay tuned for our quarterly Praise and Worship and Adoration Nights, our family retreat and the kick off of the adult catechesis program by LIFE TEEN.
Ian Gordon
Youth Councilor
My name is Ian Gordon and I am a Youth Minister. I was born and raised in a small town called Wallaceburg located in Southwestern Ontario in the London/Sarnia/Windsor Region. I was a youth minister for 2 years in my home parish which has the EDGE and Lifeteen Program. I then joined NET Ministries of Canada for a year serving on a Parish Team in Grand Falls/Windsor Newfoundland and was able to serve on staff for NET here in Ottawa, supervising Parish teams.
Victoria Pusiak
Sacramental Coordinator
Victoria Pusiak has been a member of Divine Infant Parish since completing the RCIA program in 1991.
She has been employed with the parish as the sacramental coordinator since 2004.
Although Sacramental preparation is primarily Victoria's responsibility she also facilitates the liturgical needs between the parish and the eight schools affiliated with Divine Infant Parish.
She is happily married to Steven and has been blessed with three boys.
Victoria is involved in various ministries in the parish and is also a member of the Catholic Women's League.
Victoria can be reached in the office at x 229 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.
Anne Seath
Parish Secretary
Anne and her husband, Michael, have three grown sons and have been parishioners since 1990. Anne is involved in various ministries in the parish. Anne and Michael oversee the marriage preparation process at the parish. Anne joined the parish staff in September 2005 and shares secretarial duties with Grace Buchmayer.
Grace Buchmayer
Parish Secretary
Grace has been a parishioner since 1994. She is married to Antony and mother to their daughters Emily and Julie. In 2004 she joined the Catholic Women’s League, quickly becoming the next Treasurer, followed by Organization Chair, and then council President in 2009. In addition to the CWL Grace was the parish Pro Life Representative from 2005 to 2010. Grace joined the parish office staff in December of 2010, sharing secretarial duties with Anne Seath.
Richard Gibeault
Parish Caretaker
Richard Gibeault has been the Parish caretaker since 1986. He is married and the father of two. He is also a member of the Knights of Columbus, MBAO.
