About us…Meet our staff

Fr. Miguel Betancourt, SEMV, Pastor
Father Miguel was born in Puerto Rico, the oldest of three children and ordained a priest April 21, 2001. He received his Master in Divinity from the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico and his License in Sacred Scriptures from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, Italy. Prior to coming here he was Scripture professor at the Pontifical Catholic
University of Puerto Rico. During the summer of 2008, he was appointed professor at the St. Paul Seminary. In addition to teaching, he serves as a formation advisor and liaison for foreign seminarians.

Fr. Alberto Curbelo, Parochial Vicar
Father Alberto was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico and has two brothers and five sisters. On of his sisters, Sor Maria Flor is a Cloistered Dominican. Father Alberto studied philosophy and theology at the Pontifical University of Puerto Rico and has served as Pastor at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Puerto Rico and is presently the Vicar General of his community. When asked about his ministry, he said that he liked working with young people. He will be the parochial vicar of the parish.

Isaac Alderman, Assistant to the Pastor
Isaac grew up near Buffalo, NY, and then lived in Southern California for eight years before moving to St. Paul with his wife, Christina.  He is a graduate of Houghton (NY) College and the St. Paul School of Divinity.  In addition to being Fr. Miguel's assistant, he is an adjunct professor of theology at the University of St. Thomas.

Sr. Joan Fink, Parish Minister
Born and raised in West St. Paul, Sr. Joan went to grade school at St. Matthew's and graduated from St. Agnes High School. The following August she was bound for Mankato where she joined the School Sisters of Notre Dame. After a year of candidature, she was sent to begin her teaching career as a middle school teacher. Summers were spent attending classes to get her BA and MA degrees. How many years she has served as a SSND sister we're not telling, but 25 of them were spent as the principal of several parish schools. Since 1997 Sr. Joan has worked here as a parish minister with emphasis on visiting hospitals, nursing homes and the homebound.

Eva Garnica, Coordinator Hispanic Community
Eva Garnica is the secretary for the Spanish Speaking Community.  She is married to Eduardo and they have two girls and a boy.  Her daughters, Alin and Itzel attend SFSJ United School.

Eva was born in Mexico City and grew up in a loving family of seven children. She studied accounting and has expereince in this work as an auditor.  She married Eduardo and came to the United States in 1998.

Eva is an excellent cook and one of her special dishes is flan.