Reverend Nathanael Soliven

Parochial Vicar

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Born and raised in the Philippines, Father Soliven is one of four children. He entered high school seminary at age 12 with his mother’s prompting. “You don’t have to be a priest; you can study whatever you want for college,” she told him. Father Soliven first heard the call to priesthood at age 13. He felt he had a vocation, but because he entered seminary so young, he wanted to be certain.

After college seminary, he pent four years away, mostly teaching lru1guages in U1e Philippines and Spain. He said languages are his passion, “because the open me up to another culture, almost another world and point of view.” He speaks English, Tagalog, and Spanish and two local Filipino dialects, Ilokano and Pangasinan. Although not fluent, he also understands some Greek, Latin, and Hebrew from studying sacred texts in their original forms.

He moved to Lakeland, joining his sister there. He returned to the seminary and found a community of support within and from parishioners around the diocese who frequently sent him cards and well wishes.

Father Soliven was ordained to the Priesthood on May 29, 2021. His first assignment after Ordination was as parochial vicar of St. Charles Borromeo Parish. He is a priest who serves families. He is grateful to celebrate Mass and confer the Sacrament of Penance. He looks forward to visiting the sick in the hospital.

Reverend Roberto Marquez

Parochial Vicar

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Father Marquez learned to love others at home. The Cuban-American frequently dropped what he was doing to help in the family’s restaurants in Miami where he learned responsibility, organization and teamwork. “The spirit of prayer definitely was alive in my family,” he remarked.

“When you grow up in Hispanic families… the extended family is family,” he explained. “You just felt so much love.” He said this is where he “learned how to love others.” They also taught him a sense of service, which was his inspiration for religious life. By their actions, patient listening and accompanying others, he said “It helped me understand that there’s more than just myself.” He wanted “to give back to others.”

Although he felt God’s call early on, he pushed the idea aside, keeping busy with many things and learning much about himself along the way. “This process of trying to find myself and trying to find who I am with Christ; trying to find myself in that relationship with Christ,” was something he said needed to do. He has no regrets, noting the journey to the seminary was “very fruitful.”

Moving away from family was a big step. He moved to Orlando and lived alone for ten years. “It was a time that it was just me and Christ – being able to rebuild again that relationship and being able to find my pathways; to see that it’s Christ who fulfills me and that I need to bring into all of my choices and all of my decisions.” When he began praying, the priesthood came into clear focus.
One day, he walked into the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe, where he will be ordained. Homesick and lonely he suddenly felt “it’s home.” “All my fears, all my anxiety kind of fell away; it’s started to disappear,” he recalled.

In Eucharistic Adoration, the call became “stronger and stronger” as he laid all his concerns at the Lord’s feet. “As those feelings of priesthood came into my life … I felt my heart fuller, and fuller, and fuller,” he said.

He looks forward to ministering to the parish, his family, a legacy of his upbringing. “This is the community and these are the people, my brothers and sisters, that I will be ministering to,” he said. He wants “to help others encounter that relationship with Christ, especially through the Sacrament of Reconciliation… because that’s what leads us to the altar.”

Sister María Sagrario, SCTJM

Pastoral Care and Funeral Coordinator

+1-407-422-2005 ext.8252

Reverend Mr. Joseph Gassman

Deacon

Reverend Mr. Stephen Schaffer

Deacon

Reverend Mr. Carlos Sola

Deacon

Reverend Mr. Patrick McAvoy

Deacon

Reverend Chien (Andrew) Nguyen

Hospital Chaplain / Parish Service Assistant

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Father Chien “Andrew” Nguyen was ordained June 4, 1997 in Vietnam, his homeland, as part of the Catholic Church operating underground during a time of great political tension and religious oppression. He waited 13 years to be ordained as the Vietnamese communist government would not allow public Ordination of priests. He graduated with a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the Pontificia Università Urbaniana in Rome and was incardinated into the Diocese of Orlando on March 18, 2014.

He first came to the Diocese in 2006 where he served as Hospital Chaplain to Halifax Hospital with residence at the Basilica of Saint Paul in Daytona Beach. He served as parochial vicar at St. Philip Phan Van Minh in 2009, until 2012. 

At that time, he returned to the Basilica of St. Paul as parochial vicar and hospital chaplain. He currently ministers as a Chaplain for Advent Health Hospital in Orlando and is parochial vicar at St. James Cathedral. Formally organizing the Vietnamese community in Volusia County (2007), he continues to serve them as chaplain.

Very Reverend Miguel González

Rector

+1-407-422-2005 ext.8280

Father González was ordained May 23, 1998, at St. James Cathedral, Orlando where he currently serves as rector. He has served as parochial vicar, then pastor of St. John Vianney Parish, Orlando, headed the Spanish TV Mass ministry, served as spiritual director of the Spanish Cursillo movement, and was the vocations director for the Diocese from 2004-2011. He was also an active radio host on Radio Paz and on Buena Nueva FM.  In early October of 2016, Bishop John Noonan named him Rector/Administrator of St. James Cathedral Parish.  In addition to his parish duties, Father González is the diocesan and national spiritual advisor to the Council of Catholic Women.  He serves on the board of directors of Bishop Grady Villas, a residential community and outreach for adults with disabilities. He also serves as vicar of clergy, member of the Diocese of Orlando Priests’ Personnel Board, and member of the Diocese of Orlando Presbyteral Council. 

Reverend Matthew Hawkins

Parochial Vicar

+1-407-422-2005 ext.8281

Ordained to the priesthood in 2018, Father Matthew Hawkins is a convert from the Presbyterian faith. Born in Miami, he considers himself an Orlando native having moved at age seven. He found Catholicism while he was attending the University of Florida, after being invited to Mass by a friend. He admits, it was “not love at first sight,” baffled by the unfamiliar rituals and confused by the liturgy. He said, “…eventually that ideal I was searching for began to take form. He had a face. He had a name. It was Christ that I had always been searching for…”

He worked as an engineer for almost seven years until he felt God calling him “…to give Him an undivided heart.” He credits his family and their strong faith saying, “Vocations aren’t nurtured in a vacuum, but are often sown in the soil of a loving family.” Upon his ordination, he was appointed to St. James Cathedral Parish as parochial vicar.