Brooklyn-born retired Bishop Benedict D. Coscia, OFM, Bishop Emeritus of Jataí, Goiás, Brazil, died April 30, of a sudden heart attack in Goiania, Brazil, where he had retired. He was 85, a Franciscan Friar for 64 years, a priest for 58 years, and a bishop for 46 years.

Bishop Coscia was born on Aug. 10, 1922, in Brooklyn. He was baptized Vito on Aug. 5, 1928, in Our Lady Help of Christians Church, Staten Island. He attended P.S. #104, Brooklyn; Immaculata H.S. Manhattan; and St. Francis College, Brooklyn, for two years before entering St. Joseph Seraphic Seminary in Callicoon, N.Y., in 1941.  

On Aug. 12, 1942, he was received into the Franciscan Order, Holy Name Province, in Paterson, N.J., by Father Mathias Faust, OFM, receiving the religious name of Dominic. He professed his simple vows on Aug. 13, 1943, before Father Bertrand Campbell, OFM.
He completed his philosophical studies at St. Stephen Friary, Croghan, N.Y., and St. Anthony Friary, Butler, N.J., and then studied theology at Holy Name College, Washington, D.C., where he professed his solemn vows before Father Campbell on Sept. 17, 1946.

He was ordained to the priesthood on June 11, 1949, in the chapel of Trinity College in Washington by Archbishop Amleto Cicognani, Apostolic Delegate to the United States.

Immediately following ordination, Father Coscia volunteered for the Province’s mission in the state of Goiás, Brazil. When he went there, he changed his religious name to Benedict in honor of St. Benedict the Moor, a Franciscan saint to whom he had a special devotion, and was known in that country as Frei Benedito.  After serving as assistant at the parish of Santa Ana in Anapolis and then as pastor at Pires do Rio, at the age of 38, he was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Jataí, Goiás, by Pope John XXIII. He was ordained a bishop on Sept. 21, 1961, in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica, Sunset Park, by Bishop Bryan J. McEntegart.  

Bishop Coscia attended all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council and moved energetically to implement its decisions in his vast diocese of Jataí, over three times the size of the state of New Jersey. He recruited congregations of men and women religious to serve the diocese and encouraged vocations to his diocesan clergy, being a pioneer in the establishment of the permanent diaconate in Brazil. He remained an energetic and exemplary shepherd of his diocese for 38 years, continuing to serve even after his retirement in 1999.  During his trips back to the U.S., he often officiated at confirmations in the Brooklyn and Rockville Centre dioceses.

In 1963, he was made an honorary citizen of the State of Goiás by the State Assembly. On May 7, 1982, St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights, awarded Bishop Coscia the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws.
A Mass was celebrated the day of his death at 8 p.m. in the metropolitan Cathedral of Goiania. His body was then taken to Jataí, where a Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Friday, May 2, in the Cathedral of Divino Espirito Santo, which Bishop Coscia constructed and where he was buried in the crypt. A memorial Mass will be scheduled for family and friends in the New York area.

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Sister Mary Elizabeth Tully, CSJ, formerly Sister Andrew Fidelis, 74, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood for 54 years, died April 26.

She entered the congregation in 1954 from St. Michael parish, Brooklyn.

After attending St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights, and Fordham University, she taught at St. Cecilia, Greenpoint, 1956-62; Transfiguration, Williamsburg, 1962-67; Queen of All Saints, Fort Greene, 1967-69; and St. Joseph, Pacific St., 1969-72.

For 28 years, she served as principal of St. Martin of Tours, Bushwick, which later became St. Elizabeth Seton, 1975-2003. After her principalship, she used her skills in the administration offices in Brentwood for a brief time before she succumbed to a long-term illness.

Sister Veronica Mary Myles, CSJ, formerly Sister Loretto Virginia, 93, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood for 75 years, died April 22, in Maria Regina Residence, Brentwood.

She entered the congregation from St. Mary Magdalene parish, Springfield Gardens, in 1933.

With the exception of her time in Our Lady of Victory, Floral Park, 1936-43, all of her teaching experience was in the Brooklyn Diocese. She taught at St. Anthony of Padua, Greenpoint, 1935-36; St. Brendan, Midwood, 1943-46; St. Cecilia, Greenpoint, 1946-49; Our Lady of Good Counsel, Bedford-Stuyvesant, 1949; The Mary Louis Academy, Jamaica Estates, 1949-50; St. Francis Xavier Academy H.S. Annex, 1950-53; Queen of All Saints Diocesan H.S., Fort Greene, 1953-64; and The Mary Louis Academy, 1964-66.

She then worked in the Diocese of Rockville Centre as superior and principal in Our Lady of Victory, Floral Park, 1966-72. Her 22 years of service to the school and parish of Sacred Heart, North Merrick, extended from 1972 to 1994.

She then retired to St. Joseph’s Convent in 2005 and ultimately to Maria Regina, where she spent her last days.

Sister Phyllis Christine Mele, O.P., a member of Sisters of St. Dominic, Amityville, for 47 years, died May 3. She was 65.

Formerly known as Sister Marie Kathleen, Sister Phyllis Christine was born in Brooklyn. She entered the congregation from her home parish of St. Clement Pope, South Ozone Park, in 1960.

She taught on the elementary level from 1962 to 1970 in Holy Redeemer School, Freeport; St. Ignatius, Long Beach; and Christ the King, Commack. From 1970 to 1996, she taught high school science at Dominican Commercial, Jamaica; St. Anthony’s, L.I.; St. Agnes Academic H.S., College Point; and Manhasset Secondary School, L.I.

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