PORTLAND, Maine — Bishop Robert P. Deeley has appointed Fr. Normand E. Carpentier as the new vicar for priests for the Diocese of Portland, effective immediately. Carpentier succeeds Fr. Paul A. Plante, who died June 30, 2016.
On behalf of the bishop, the vicar communicates with priests around the diocese to express concern for their emotional, physical and spiritual well-being. He meets regularly with the bishop to share the joys and concerns of the priests.
Born in Quantico, Virginia, Carpentier attended schools in Lewiston, Auburn, and Sherbrooke, Quebec, before completing his final preparation for the priesthood at St. Mary’s Seminary and University’s School of Theology, in Baltimore, Md., earning a master’s degree in divinity. He was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Edward C. O’Leary on May 29, 1971, at St. Louis Parish in Auburn.
His first assignment was as associate pastor at Holy Rosary Parish in Caribou. In May 1972, he was appointed associate pastor at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Madawaska, where he would serve until January 1977, when he was named associate pastor at St. Ignatius Parish in Sanford. In November 1978, he was appointed associate pastor of Holy Family Parish in Lewiston, and in June 1981, he became pastor of St. James Parish in Woodland.
Two years later, he was elected by his brother priests to serve as a representative on the Diocesan Priests’ Senate. In September 1983, Carpentier was appointed pastor for collaborative ministry at Sacred Heart Parish in Portland. In December 1984, he was named to the position of diocesan coordinator of the institutional chaplaincy program, coordinating chaplains at several hospitals around Maine.
In July 1987, he became pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in Winslow. In 1993, he served as temporary parochial vicar at Holy Cross Parish in Lewiston before being named pastor of St. Margaret Parish in Old Orchard Beach. He would serve the parishioners at St. Margaret for 10 years before being appointed pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Windham in 2003.
In July 2009, Carpentier was named parochial vicar at All Saints Parish in Brunswick, where he would serve until he retired from active ministry on July 1, 2015.
