Raymond Joel Nobiletti was born on June 3, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York, son of Bernard and Marie Di Gregorio Nobiletti. His older sister, Frances Gilleland and younger brother, Carmine, live in Oregon with their families.  Raymond 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 May 24, 1969.

 

Following ordination, Father Nobiletti 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 became Assistant Pastor at St. John’s Parish in Kwun Tong and in 1972 was appointed Pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Sau Mau Ping.  In 1978 he was appointed founding Pastor of St. Stephen’s Parish in Kwai Chung, New Territories where he supervised the construction of the church, school, youth center and rectory.

 

While in Hong Kong, Father Nobiletti was a pastoral training supervisor for seminarians at Holy Spirit Seminary, Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital and was director of the Maryknoll Overseas Training Program and Lay Missioner Program in Hong Kong.  He was also a delegate to the Hong Kong Priests’ Council, member of the Diocesan Reconciliation and Arbitration Board and President of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men in Hong Kong.

 

In 1973 he was elected Assistant to the Regional Superior and in 1982 elected Regional Superior of the Maryknoll Hong Kong Region.  At the 1984 Chapter 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 Pastor of Transfiguration Parish in New York City where he now serves the multicultural population of lower Manhattan.  Father Nobiletti says that working with and loving the peoples whom he has been asked to serve and to learn from them has been the privilege of his mission career.  In remarkable ways Transfiguration Parish lives the spirit of Maryknoll.  The parishioners serve in over 20 volunteer organizations, and many whose families immigrated are now helping the newest arrivals. The global church can learn from Transfiguration parish that the successive waves of immigrants from different continents and cultures have put their faith into action to welcome, support and integrate with newcomers.