Father Michael Fragoso ‘humbled, grateful’ for honor to serve parishioners

Father Michael Fragoso entered St. Mary of Mount Virgin Church for the first time in 2013 on the evening before his ordination to the priesthood.
 

“What a beautiful church,” he thought while he was attending a holy hour for vocations, during which Bishop Emeritus Paul G. Bootkoski blessed the new priest’s chalice.

On May 22, Father Fragoso was at St. Mary’s again for another milestone in his priesthood — his installation as second pastor of the Parish of the Visitation, which includes the “beautiful church,” as one of its worship sites.
 

Bishop James F. Checchio presided and gave the homily at the Mass of Installation at the New Brunswick church on the date that coincided with the Italian feast of Our Lady of the Mount that is remembered near Naples. The Mass included the Gospel of Luke’s recording of the Visitation — Mary’s trip to see her cousin Elizabeth, who was about to give birth to St. John the Baptist.
 

“When Mary went to St. Elizabeth, and John the Baptist did somersaults in [Elizabeth’s] womb, he realized that his Lord and Savior was present,” Father Fragoso told the congregation before the recessional.
 

He said he felt enthused being back at a church he first appreciated for its splendor.
 

“So how great is it today that Bishop Checchio has named me pastor of Our Lady’s house,” Father Fragoso declared, adding, “Wow!”
 

On Sept. 1, 2020, Father Fragoso became the spiritual shepherd of Parish of the Visitation, which encompasses approximately 2,300 families of several cultures, including Hispanic and Italian. Besides St. Mary of Mount Virgin Church, the parish incorporates the churches of St. John the Baptist — the oldest of the three parishes that is also in New Brunswick — and the Mission of St. Theresa of the Infant Jesus in Edison. The three parishes were merged in 2014 into the Parish of the Visitation.
 

The new pastor’s installation Mass was delayed primarily because of the coronavirus pandemic. Father Fragoso said it was held in May also to celebrate the Italian feast and so more people would be able to celebrate as New Jersey and the Diocese of Metuchen lifted pandemic restrictions at secular and religious events.
 

Father Fragoso noted the installation was bittersweet because of the death of seminarian Mr. Ngu Quoc "Peter" Tran, whose summer and holiday assignments included serving at Parish of the Visitation. Tran was killed in New York City on May 11 by a drunk driver, authorities said.
 

“That was terrible,” Father Fragoso said. “I think the bishop said, ‘We need something good this week,’” in deciding to offer the installation Mass.
 

In his homily, Bishop Checchio said Father Fragoso chose the Marian feast day on which to celebrate his installation as pastor not because it was nice or a coincidence.

“Father is a believer who trusts in our Mother’s protection and guidance for us,” the bishop said, “who strives to emulate her example and faith, too, in his own life, and I know you all do, too.
 

“So, we pray today that as your new pastor, he may always be in this community of the Parish of the Visitation to have such faith as our Blessed Mother, to choose to always believe that God will always, always, always be faithful.”
 

In a telephone interview with “The Catholic Spirit,” Father Fragoso, who previously was pastor at St. James the Less Parish, Jamesburg, and before that parochial vicar at St. Philip and St. James Parish, Phillipsburg, said he was unaware of the name of the consolidated parish, though he was familiar with St. Mary of Mount Virgin.

Father Fragoso said he is blessed with two parochial vicars, Father Virgilio T. Tolentino and Father Edmund A. Luciano III. And any issues facing the young parish with longstanding histories melted easily when he noted his councils and the three orders of nuns who are in residence.
 

“I could not ask for a better staff,” he stated.
 

Father Fragoso, 65, said he was initially unsure about moving when the bishop asked him to transfer.
 

“Afterward, I said, ‘Why did I say yes? I’m comfortable here [St. James].
 

“Maybe I’m not meant to be comfortable,” he said. “Maybe I’m meant to be challenged.”

If anyone knows about transitions, change and challenges, it is Father Fragoso, who emigrated from Cuba to the United States as a child while his family were political refugees from communist rule following the Cuban Revolution in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The family settled in Staten Island, N.Y., and then moved to New Jersey.
 

Before becoming a priest, Father Fragoso spent more than two decades as a pediatrician in central New Jersey, and he was married. But his wife, Carmen, died in 2008, and it led him to discern his vocation to serve God – to enter another role as a healer, but that of mind and spirit.
 

On May 22, he stood before fellow clergy, parishioners, and his son, Michael A. Fragoso, to publicly announce his intent as spiritual leader of Visitation parish.

“I’m humbled and grateful for this honor, and the opportunity to further build up this parish standing on the broad shoulders of my predecessors,” Father Fragoso said at Mass.
 

Though Father Fragoso is Visitation parish’s second pastor, another priest, Father Benny Chittilappilly, served as administrator, and Father Jimson Varghese served as the unified parish’s first pastor. Both clergy belong to the Vocationist order, while Father Fragoso is a diocesan priest.