New spiritual leaders arrive: Now serve Christ the King Parish
- Mark Jahne
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
by Mark Jahne
Editor
The latest round of reshuffling priests in the Archdiocese of Hartford brought two new spiritual leaders to town. The Rev. Jeffrey Romans and the Rev. Ajeesh Ouseph now serve Christ the King Parish, consisting of Corpus Christi Church and the Church of the Incarnation.
The parish includes Corpus Christi School.
Romans is the pastor and Ouseph, who prefers to be called Father Ajeesh, is the parochial vicar, or assistant pastor. They were together at St. Briget of Sweden Parish in Cheshire before being reassigned to Wethersfield. Romans spent 12 years there.
“We had three churches but we were down to one campus,” he said.
That parish also had a school. The archdiocese sold the other two churches that were merged.
Romans was ordained in 2003 at the age of 26. He grew up in Bristol and decided to pursue a vocation immediately after high school. He did his theological studies and training at St. John Seminary in Boston while also taking courses at Boston College.
“I felt a calling to serve people,” he said.
The new pastor also served at churches in Glastonbury and Torrington. The latter was a cluster arrangement.
“We had four parishes and two schools,” he recalled.
There were also a couple of years in Naugatuck and brief periods in Norfolk and Canaan. Another assignment was as assistant chancellor and secretary to the late Archbishop Henry Mansell in 2008.
Ouseph is younger and his ordination was in 2018 in his native Kerala, India.
“I came here in 2023,” he said. “I was born and brought up in a Catholic family. I wanted to become an engineer” but he had a change of heart and opted for a religious vocation instead.
He started in New Haven and then joined Romans in Cheshire. There is also a third member of this new team. Romans, a Boston Red Sox fan, has a dog named Fenway. He also enjoys playing golf.
“I hope in our ministry we can help people understand our relationship with Jesus. My homilies focus on the scriptures and how they apply to our lives,” he said.
The two priests, who arrived here in July, conducted four listening sessions to get feedback from their parishioners and get to know them by name. Some of the advice and feedback offered at those sessions is already being implemented.
“Our mission is to bring people closer together,” Romans said. “We want everyone who comes in the door to feel welcome. We had 40 ministries in Cheshire” and many of them have been in place for a long time. WL
To learn more about Christ the King Parish call 860-529-2545 or see christthekingparishct.org. It also has a Facebook page.