St. Mary’s High School continues to have successful alumni in the news. This week, 1982 graduate of St. Mary’s Boy’s High School Robert Coyle has been assigned to the Diocese of Rockville Centre as auxiliary bishop.
“The Holy Father, Pope Francis, has transferred and returned Most Reverend Robert J. Coyle, age 53, auxiliary bishop, Archdiocese of the Military, back home to the Diocese of Rockville Centre,” said Most Revered John O. Barres, bishop of Rockville Centre. “Bishop Coyle will assist me and auxiliary bishops Robert Brennan and Andrzej Zglejszewski in the pastoral ministry of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Bishop Coyle will begin here with us on April 2, 2018.”
“I thank God for all of these experiences. I especially thank the religious, priests, teachers and parishes that formed me over my lifetime. I am very grateful to the Holy Father, Pope Francis, for appointing me to serve the Church on Long Island. I look forward to assisting Bishop John Barres, Bishop of Rockville Centre, in our pursuit of Dramatic Missionary Growth on Long Island,” said Coyle. “Years back there was a spirit campaign with the expression, ‘I’m a Long Islander and proud of it!’ I again can say that here as a native son.”
Coyle was born in Brooklyn in 1964, the son of Robert and Kathryn Coyle. He graduated from St. Edward Confessor Elementary School in Syosset in 1978; and from St. Mary’s Boys High School in Manhasset in 1982. He graduated from Fordham University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1986, Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington, with a Master of Divinity in 1991 and received a Master of Arts degree in Theology in 1998. He was ordained to the diocesan priesthood by Bishop McGann in 1991 and served as an associate pastor, first in the parish of Saint Dominick, Oyster Bay, and then in the parish of Saint Patrick, Glen Cove.
Coyle was commissioned an ensign in the U.S. Navy on June 3, 1988, and served 24.5 years on active reserve duty before his retirement from the Naval Reserve on Jan. 1, 2013. Serving as a U.S. Navy Chaplain, Coyle was deployed to the Middle East to serve on an aircraft carrier and to Norfolk, VA, to care for the spiritual needs of sailors and their families. During a three-year assignment aboard the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, Coyle was deployed to the Middle East and served in Operation Southern Watch and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He then served as chaplain to the young men and women studying at the Merchant Marine Academy in King’s Point. While assigned to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier and deployed to the Middle East for Operation Enduring Freedom, Pope Benedict named him a chaplain of honor with the title of Monsignor in 2008, in recognition of his outstanding service caring for the spiritual needs of Catholics and others of all faiths in the U.S. Navy.
