May 27, 2015

Four priests of the Diocese of Ogdensburg are celebrating 60 years of priesthood this year.

Msgr. Joseph G. Aubin, Father John L. Downs, Father Gilbert B. Menard and Msgr. Peter R. Riani were all ordained May 21, 1955 by Bishop Walter P. Kellenburg.

Msgr. Aubin
Msgr. Aubin retired as pastor emeritus of the Catholic Community of Keeseville in 2000 and lives at St. Peter’s in Plattsburgh.

A Rochester native, he was born Aug. 5, 1928. He studied for the priesthood at St. Andrew’s in Rochester, Wadhams Hall in Ogdensburg and St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, before his ordination.

Msgr. Aubin served as assistant pastor in Tupper Lake and at Our Lady of Victory in Plattsburgh before being named director of the Catholic Charities office in Plattsburgh in 1958.

In 1971, Bishop Stanislaus J. Brzana appointed him as regional director of religious education in Plattsburgh.
Msgr. Aubin has served as pastor of parishes in Sciota, Our Lady of Victory and, from 1989 to 2000, in Keeseville. During that time, he was dean of Clinton Deanery.

The priest was named a Prelate of Honor with the title monsignor in 1989.

Father Downs
Father Downs, who retired in 2004, remains active in the diocese serving as chaplain at Our Lady of the Adirondacks House of Prayer and assisting at parishes near his home in Raymondville nearly every weekend.
Born June 17, 1929 in Plattsburgh, Father Downs studied for the priesthood at Wadhams Hall and St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg.

After his ordination as a priest, Father Downs served as assistant pastor at Sacred Heart in Massena and in AuSable Forks. In 1968, he was named pastor in Redwood and a diocesan consultor.

From 1969 to 1980, Father Downs served the diocese as Director of Radio and Television.

Father Downs was assigned as pastor in Adams in 1973 and in West Chazy in 1978. He took a leave of absence from 1987 to 1990 to work in the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, West Virginia.

Upon his return to the diocese, he served as pastor of St. Joseph’s in Massena until his retirement.

Father Menard.
Father Menard spent many years during the first half of his priesthood as a professor at Wadhams Hall and many years before his 1999 retirement as pastor in Ellenburg.

A native of Mooers, he was born Oct. 24, 1928. He studied for the priesthood at Wadhams Hall and St. Bernard’s Seminary in Rochester before he was ordained by Bishop Kellenburg.

His first assignments were as assistant pastor in Lake Placid, then Potsdam, then Mooers Forks.

Father Menard was assigned to the faculty of St. Mary’s Academy in Champlain in 1959 and then professor at Wadhams Hall in 1965.

While remaining on the faculty of Wadhams Hall, teaching Latin and French, he was named pastor in Hammond and Rossie in 1971.

In 1978, he moved to Clinton County to serve as pastor in Morrisonville until 1983 when he was named pastor in Ellenburg and Churubusco until his retirement.

Msgr. Riani
Msgr. Riani’s life as a priest of the Diocese of Ogdensburg was highlighted by his service at Wadhams Hall Seminary-College including eight years as its rector-president.

Msgr. Riani was assigned as an instructor at Wadhams Hall in 1960 after his early appointments as assistant pastor in Black River and then in Saranac Lake.

At the seminary, he was a theology professor, dean of students, director of student activities, academic dean and vice-president before beginning his tenure as president from 1974 to 1982.

In 1976, he was named a Prelate of Honor with the title monsignor.

Msgr. Riani was born in Keeseville Aug. 16, 1929, and studied at Wadhams Hall and St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore before his 1955 ordination.  He continued studies after ordination, receiving a doctorate in theology at the Pontifical Angelicum University in Rome, Italy in 1960

From 1982 to 1985, he was pastor in Lake Placid and then returned as a faculty member at Wadhams Hall while serving as pastor in Heuvelton. 

In 1993, Msgr. Riani was named pastor in Peru until 1999 when he became in pastor in Elizabethtown and Westport, a position he held until his 2012 retirement.

He currently resides at St. Alexander’s in Morrisonville.

Msgr. Riani also served the diocese as an associate editor of the North Country Catholic, an instructor in the permanent deacon program, a member of the Formation for Ministries board, dean of Essex Deanery and as director of seminarians for the Diocese of Ogdensburg.