For decades, Msgr. Alfred LoPinto has served as president and chief executive officer at Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens, as well as Vicar for Human Services for the Diocese of Brooklyn.
“This has allowed me great privilege being able to offer assistance. But more than assistance, it’s given me the opportunity to walk with people who are struggling with issues in their life and to be able to provide them with support and also with tools that they can then use in order to lift themselves up,” LoPinto said. “That’s always been a critical piece of what I’ve been engaged with doing here at Catholic Charities.”
In 1970, as Parochial Vicar at Our Lady of Fatima, LoPinto founded the first Teen Club in the Parish and an Adult Education Program dealing with the documents of Vatican II.
After a year at Our Lady of Fatima, LoPinto was transferred to St. Gregory the Great Parish in Bellerose in 1971, where he founded a volunteer-operated pre-school program and a community counseling center. He also oversaw the growth of parish youth programs.
He served as Administrator of St. Gregory the Great Parish School, where he instituted an advanced educational testing program with the assistance of St. John’s University, a communication arts program allowing the students in the junior high to engage in TV production and broadcasting activities.
Following his assignment at St. Gregory’s, LoPinto was assigned to Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens in 1981.
Having received his masters in social work in 1983, LoPinto was assigned as special assistant for community organizing and served as co-chair of the Diocesan Committee reviewing the Bishop’s Pastoral on Economics. He co-chaired the Labor and Religion Coalition for the City of New York and served on the State Board for the New York State Labor and Religion Coalition.
LoPinto also served as a founding member of the Roundtable, the national network of diocesan social action directors.
In 1985, LoPinto was appointed the executive director of the Campaign for Human Development, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). During his five-year tenure in this position, he visited over 65 dioceses in the U.S., working with diocesan bishops, their staff and local groups on poverty issues.
In 1990, LoPinto assisted the Diocese of San Bernardino, California, with the revamping of its social justice ministries. He was named executive director for the diocesan Catholic Charities.
He was also asked to serve as a consultant to the California Catholic Conference on issues of social policy, where he became heavily involved in welfare reform and immigration issues.
In January 1998, LoPinto began an assignment as a Parochial Vicar at St. Camillus in Rockaway Beach. In the spring of 1999, Bishop Daily asked him to accept the position of Pastor of St. Therese of Lisieux Parish in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn, and in the spring of 2005, Bishop DiMarzio asked him to accept the position of Vicar for Human Services.
During his career to date, LoPinto has received a number of civic, community and organizational awards and commendations. In March 2007, he was raised to the rank of Monsignor by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.
