Ernest Hart was my classmate when I began formation to the diaconate in 2002 — and we were roommates for our formation retreats. He’s a terrific guy — smart, funny, down-to-earth, prayerful, wonderfully easy-going. Ernie ended up leaving formation and eventually got an annulment. But God kept calling him back to ministry. He re-entered formation and was ordained a few years after me.
Ernie has had an incredible life as a lawyer, a college professor and a state Supreme Court Justice, among other things.
Deacon Ernest F. “Ernie” Hart will be ordained to the priesthood at a Mass celebrated by Bishop Frank J. Caggiano on Saturday, November 21 at 11 am at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Fairfield.
He currently serves this parish as a permanent deacon. Ordained in the Diocese of Brooklyn in 2011, Deacon Hart was assigned to the parish of St. Mary Magdalene in Springfield Gardens, Queens and later accepted the role of diocesan general counsel in Connecticut in 2024.
Prior to his studies for the priesthood, Deacon Hart was a deputy commissioner for the New York Police Department as well as an attorney and a New York State Supreme Court Justice.
He also worked as a college professor and associate dean at Columbia University. He serves on the Board of Directors for Catholic Charities of Fairfield County as legal counsel.
After graduating from St. Francis Prep and then Fordham University with a bachelor of arts degree, he earned his juris doctor from Villanova University in 1983. In 2018, Deacon Hart completed his studies at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers, New York.
Reflecting on his preparation for the priesthood, Deacon Hart said: “The call to priesthood has been in my heart since second grade, making discernment a lifelong journey. Although career and life led me in other directions, prayer and Christ’s unmistakable call eventually guided me to the diaconate and now to the priesthood. This vocation remains a mystery that I embrace wholeheartedly. Jesus has given me the profound gift and honor of serving Him and His Church.”
Born in Brooklyn, NY in 1959, Deacon Hart is the son of the late Leon A. Hart and Marion A. Latty Hart. He is the father of three adult children, Paul, Alexandra and Julianne, who will all have a role in his Mass of Ordination.
Deacon Hart will celebrate his first Mass on November 22 at 10 am at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Springfield Gardens, New York.
Unfortunately, I’m in the middle of helping my sister move from Maryland to Florida — long story — and won’t be able to attend the ordination. But Ernie is in my prayers daily. What a wonder it all is.
Thanks be to God, the author who never tires of writing straight with crooked lines.
