Father Alonzo Cox, Director

Father Alonzo Cox was born in the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn on March 22, 1983. He was raised in a loving home with his mom and dad, and three years later his sister would be born. His family was active parishioners of Queen of All Saints parish. He would go on to become an altar server and after his Confirmation a lector and catechist.

Alonzo attended the area public schools, P.S. 20, J.H.S. 117, and Metropolitan Corporate Academy in Downtown Brooklyn. Feeling called by God to serve as a priest, at the age of 18, after graduating from high school, Alonzo entered the minor seminary, Cathedral Seminary Residence while attending St. John’s University.

In June 2005, Alonzo graduated from St. John’s with a B.A. degree in Philosophy and was assigned by Bishop DiMarzio to continue his studies for the priesthood at the major seminary, the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, New York. Alonzo spent his pastoral year of formation at the parish of St. Sebastian, in Woodside, Queens.

In May 2009 Alonzo received his M.A. degree in Theology and on December 8, 2009, was ordained a transitional deacon. On June 26, 2010, Alonzo was ordained to the sacred priesthood at St. James Cathedral Basilica by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio. He was assigned to the parish of St. Clare, in Rosedale Queens as Parochial Vicar.

In addition to his position as Parochial Vicar, Bishop DiMarzio appointed Father Alonzo to serve as the Diocesan Coordinator of the African American Apostolate and Ministry to African American Catholics. In November 2014, Father Alonzo was appointed Pastor of St. Martin DePorres parish, which consists of Our Lady of Victory, Holy Rosary, and St. Peter Claver churches in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

In August 2017, Bishop DiMarzio appointed Father Alonzo to serve as secretary for the Diocesan Commission on Racism and Social Justice.