HONG KONG (SE): The Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers announced the death of Father Raymond Joel Nobiletti, on July 10, at the Assisted Living Unit at Maryknoll, New York, the United States. He was 79-years-old and had been a Maryknoll priest for 52 years.
During his time in Hong Kong, he was assistant parish priest at St. John the Baptist parish, Kwun Tong; then parish priest of Immaculate Heart of Mary parish, Sau Mau Ping; then was the founding parish priest of St. Stephen’s parish in Kwai Chung, the New Territories.
Father Nobiletti was born on 3 June 1942 in Brooklyn, New York, and attended St. Barnabas Elementary School in the Bronx and Power Memorial Academy in New York City. He graduated from Maryknoll Seminaries in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, Hingham, Massachusetts and Maryknoll, New York, where he was ordained a priest on 24 May 24 1969.
Following ordination, he was assigned to the Maryknoll Mission Region in Hong Kong, where he studied Chinese language and Asian Religions at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In 1970 he was assigned to St. John’s parish and, in 1972, was appointed to Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish. In 1978, at St. Stephen’s parish, he supervised the construction of the church, school, youth centre and rectory.
Father Nobiletti was also a pastoral training supervisor at the Holy Spirit Seminary; worked at Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital, Wong Tai Sin; and was director of the Maryknoll Overseas Training Programme and Lay Missioner Programme in Hong Kong. He was also a delegate to the Council of Priests, a member of the Diocesan Reconciliation and Arbitration Board and President of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men in Hong Kong.
In 1973, Father Nobiletti was appointed assistant to the regional superior of the Maryknoll Hong Kong Region, then in 1982 he was appointed regional superior. At the 1984 chapter meeting held at Maryknoll, New York, he was elected assistant to the superior general and member of the General Council of the Maryknoll Society and served in that position until 1990.
In 1973, Father Nobiletti was appointed assistant to the regional superior of the Maryknoll Hong Kong Region, then in 1982 he was appointed regional superior. At the 1984 chapter meeting held at Maryknoll, New York, he was elected assistant to the superior general and member of the General Council of the Maryknoll Society and served in that position until 1990.
In 1991 Father Nobiletti became parish priest of Transfiguration Parish in Chinatown, New York City, where he served the multicultural population of lower Manhattan for the next 27 years. He said that working with and loving the peoples whom he had been asked to serve and learning from them was the privilege of his mission career.
On 11 September 2001, he was a first-responder to the catastrophic attack on the World Trade Centre. He rushed to the triage site, knowing that the presence of a priest would be important to both survivors and responders. Ministering to the injured outside the South Tower, he was caught in the collapse of the building. Father Nobiletti later reflected that it was “a gift and a privilege… to be an instrument of God’s grace and part of the team of people from all walks of life who made God so present to all on that day.”
Father Nobiletti retired in June 2018 and took up residence at the Society Centre in Maryknoll, New York. In February 2019 he was appointed to the Pastoral Visitors Team at the Maryknoll Centre.
On his Golden Jubilee Father Nobiletti reflected, “Every Catholic has a mission vocation, from foreign missioner to housewife and family man. We must see the gifts to do mission that God has given to us wherever we are and under varying and sometimes challenging circumstances.”
Father Nobiletti is survived by his sister.
A funeral Mass was celebrated on July 14 at Transfiguration Church and a wake service was held on July 17 in the Holy Spirit Chapel at the Maryknoll Society Centre. Burial of cremation remains will take place at a future date in the Maryknoll Society Cemetery.
May he rest in peace.
