Peter Anthony Libasci (born November 9, 1951) is an

American Catholic The Catholic Church in the United States is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in communion with the pope, who as of 2025 is Chicago, Illinois-born Leo XIV. With 23 percent of the United States' population , the Catholic Church is the cou ...

prelate who has served as

Bishop of Manchester The Bishop of Manchester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Manchester, Diocese of Manchester in the Province of York.) The current bishop is David Walker (Bishop of Manchester), David Walker who w ...

since 2011. Libasci previously served as an auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Rockville Centre from 2007 to 2011. Libasci is a bi-ritual priest, allowed to celebrate liturgy and administer the sacraments in both the

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

and the

Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church The Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church, also known in the United States as the Byzantine Catholic Church, is a '' sui iuris'' (autonomous) Eastern Catholic particular church based in Eastern Europe and North America that is part of the worldwide ...

Biography

Early life and education

Peter A. Libasci was born on November 9, 1951, in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York. Libasci is of Italian ( Sicilian) heritage on his paternal side and of Slovak heritage on his maternal side. He attended St. Margaret School in

Middle Village, New York Middle Village is a neighborhood in the central section of the borough of Queens, New York City, bounded to the north by the Long Island Expressway, to the east by Woodhaven Boulevard, to the south by Cooper Avenue and the former LIRR Montauk B ...

. Deciding to become a priest, Libasci then entered Cathedral Preparatory Seminary in Elmhurst, Queens. Libasci obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy degree from St. John's University in Queens and a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

degree from

Saint Meinrad School of Theology The Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology is a Roman Catholic seminary and school of theology in Saint Meinrad, Indiana. It is affiliated with the Saint Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, Indiana. The institution was named after Meinra ...

in Saint Meinrad, Indiana. After his ordination, Libasci received a Master of Theology-Catechetical Ministry degree from St. John's.

Ordination and ministry

On April 1, 1978, Libasci was ordained a priest by Bishop John Raymond McGann for the Diocese of Rockville Centre at Saint Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre, New York. After his ordination, the diocese assigned Libasci to the following parish assignments in New York: * Parochial vicar at Saint Raymond's in East Rockaway (1978 – 1982), * Parochial vicar at Saints Cyril and Methodius in Deer Park (1982 – 1988); * Parish administrator and then pastor at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Inwood (1988 – 2000) * Pastor at Saint Therese of Lisieux in Montauk (2000 – 2007) On December 10, 2004, Libasci was named

honorary prelate A Prelate of Honour of His Holiness is a Catholic prelate to whom the Pope has granted this title of honour. They are addressed as Monsignor (typically abbreviated 'Mgr') and have certain privileges as regards clerical clothing.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

with the title of monsignor.

Auxiliary Bishop of Rockville Centre

Libasci was named titular bishop of Satafis and auxiliary bishop of Rockville Centre on April 3, 2007, by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

. Libasci received his episcopal consecration on June 1, 2007, from Bishop William Murphy, with Auxiliary Bishops Emil Wcela, Paul Walsh and John Dunne serving as co-consecrators. As auxiliary bishop, Libasci served as

episcopal vicar Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

for the Vicariate East ( Suffolk County) of the diocese. He also celebrated the liturgy for the Ruthenian Catholic community, which celebrates liturgy in the

Byzantine rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, is a liturgical rite that is identified with the wide range of cultural, devotional, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Chri ...

Bishop of Manchester

On September 19, 2011, Benedict XVI named Libasci as the tenth bishop of Manchester. He was installed on December 8, 2011. Libasci on May 30, 2019, expressed his approval of the override vote in the

New Hampshire Senate The New Hampshire State Senate is the upper house of the New Hampshire General Court, alongside the lower New Hampshire House of Representatives. The Senate has been meeting since 1784. The Senate consists of 24 members representing Senate distri ...

to eliminate

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

in the state. As bishop, Libasci has been sympathetic to Traditional Catholic groups. In 2016 Libasci invited the

Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (; FSSP) is a traditionalist Catholic society of apostolic life for priests and seminarians. It is in communion with the Holy See. It was founded in 1988 by 12 former members of the Society of Saint Pius ...

, who exclusively celebrate the

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite or ''usus antiquior'' (), Vetus Ordo or the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) or the Traditional Rite, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church codified in ...

, to establish St. Stanislaus Parish in Nashua. In 2021 Libasci invited the

Institute of the Good Shepherd The Institute of the Good Shepherd (, ) is a Catholic society of apostolic life made up of traditionalist priests promoting the Tridentine Mass and other traditional sacraments, in full communion with the Holy See. As of 2024, the Institute ...

, which also solely celebrates the Tridentine Mass, to establish a parish in

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

Sexual abuse allegations

On July 22, 2021, Libasci was named in a lawsuit accusing him of

child molestation Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whet ...

. The crimes allegedly occurred between 1983 and 1984 when he was serving as parochial vicar at Saints Cyril and Methodius Parish School in New York. The accuser was Charles O’Connor, then 12 or 13 years old. O'Connor said that Libasci fondled his genitals on "numerous occasions", including one instance when the boy was setting up the altar for mass. The lawsuit also named the Sisters of St. Joseph, the religious order running the school at the time, of neglecting to prevent the abuse. Libasci denied the accusations. On August 29, 2021, the

Archdiocese of Boston The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Boston () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or archdiocese, of the Catholic Church in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its mother church is the Cathedral of the Holy Cross (Boston), Cathedral o ...

announced a formal investigation into the accusations against Libasci. However, the archdiocese decided to delay the investigation until the O'Connor lawsuit was settled. O'Connor died in July 2024, leaving the lawsuit in temporary limbo.

References

External links

Roman Catholic Diocese of ManchesterThe Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre

Episcopal succession

{{DEFAULTSORT:Libasci, Peter Anthony 1951 births Living people People from Jackson Heights, Queens Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre Roman Catholic bishops of Manchester 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States People from Rockville Centre, New York People from East Rockaway, New York Religious leaders from New York (state) Catholics from New York (state) American people of Italian descent American people of Slovak descent