Father Rogelio Largoza, familiarly known as Father Ongen, glides naturally, wearing his ever-present smile, stopping to talk with parishioners gathered at the coffee and donut fellowship hour after Mass at St. Mary of the Presentation (St. Mary), Suffolk.
“I don’t think he ever sits down,” parish administrative assistant Kim Holmes said with a laugh as she described the biweekly social.
Father Ongen, who is celebrating his 40th anniversary as a priest, is described as having a “personable” personality that pairs nicely with his renowned sense of humor. Many consider him a friend, which is his goal.
“I make myself a friend to the parishioners, not just a pastor, because my principle there is you can only open up yourself if you are a friend to somebody because whenever you are a friend, you are trusted,” he said.
“Sometimes I am their pastor, I am their priest, I am their spiritual advisor, but I can only do that because for them I am a friend,” Father Ongen added.
“The best part (of being a priest) is being with the people and serving them aside from the priestly ministry that is celebrating the Eucharist,” he continued. “It is my service to the people that I show and express my dedication, my commitment, to the Lord.”
According to former and present parishioners, Father Ongen makes himself available – visiting homes, fishing with parishioners and pitching in where needed, whether it’s raking the churchyard, slicing onions for a Knights of Columbus stew or helping sell Christmas trees.
Donna Seate, office manager for the Cluster Parishes in Clarksville, South Boston and South Hill where he previously served, said, “From the get-go he was very personable, very caring, very friendly – just a wonderful, spiritual priest. He brought a lot to our parish. He was good with all groups of people – from the kids to the elderly to people in the middle.”
At St. Mary, he has drawn the crowds, filling the pews with both young and old. Parishioners, who are quick to emphasize that previous priests brought their own talents and made their own positive impacts in the parish, said Father Ongen has been building a more vibrant, united parish after COVID-19 lowered attendance. The parish has about 140 active families, and Holmes said she faces a stack of new registrations ready to be filed.
He has encouraged parishioners to join ministries and for those ministries to be more active, they said. The coffee and donut fellowship hour is new as are occasional brunches and celebrations including one for Father Ongen’s milestone. The event brought in members of his family, priests with whom he has previously served, and a multitude of parishioners, both present and past.
“It was a great celebration, not because I reached 40 years but because I saw the concern of the people here,” Father Ongen said. “I saw the joy that they felt when I celebrated my 40th anniversary. It was as if my joy was their joy. My triumph was their triumph.”
At St. Mary, as at previous parishes, he is fostering spirituality. For example, he has expanded the First Friday Eucharistic Adoration to 24 hours, culminating on Saturday with benediction. He introduced a novena to our Lady of Perpetual Help. His homilies, often humorous but packed with theology and challenges, can keep the congregation rapt, parishioners said.
St. Mary parishioner Annette Rian said, “Now that there are less restrictions relating to COVID, Father Ongen takes what we have here and makes it more beautiful, more spiritual and more community.”
Similarly, Larry Gunther, a parishioner at St. Catherine of Siena, Clarksville, said, “Every- body’s faith became deeper because of him” when Father Ongen was pastor there.
Father Ongen, the second youngest of nine children, was born in 1958 in Nabua, Camrines Sur, a province in the Philippines. He credits his parents, whom he called “church people” for his faith formation. The family prayed the rosary together every evening, and his father was active in the parish, serving on the steering/executive committee.
He went to elementary school in his home- town but transferred to Holy Rosary Minor Seminary in Naga City when he was 12 because his older brother was already in the seminary there. He said his parents wanted him to have “a good discipline,” because “of the high standard of education the seminary was giving” to his brother. He subsequently went to Holy Rosary Major Seminary after four years. It was there that he discerned the priesthood and was ordained in 1983 at age 25.
He served at several parishes in the Philippines and was a missionary in the West Indies for a few years. When he came to the United States, he became parochial vicar at the Cluster Parishes of Portsmouth and Chesapeake from 2016-2017 and then pastor of the Cluster Parishes of Clarksville, South Boston and South Hill from 2017-2021. He returned to the Philippines in 2021 to serve as guest priest and then as an attached priest at a parish in Naga City. Last July he became the pastor of St. Mary of the Presentation.
Andrew Graf, grand knight of Council 7363 which is affiliated with St. Mary, said, “Father Ongen brings an atmosphere of fun and steadiness so you can grow in faith and be a normal person.”
Delores Oliver, of St. Paul Parish, Portsmouth, remembers fondly when Father Ongen served there.
“He was such a quiet, compassionate person. He was over the top,” she said, adding that by his tone of voice and tendency to “look at you directly in your eyes,” one “just knew that he cared.”
“When you meet him, it makes you feel like you have known him forever,” she said. “No matter how busy he is, he takes time to listen. He’s never in a hurry.”
Additionally, Gunther said, “He is the easiest person in the world to talk to. He’s sincere. He’s one of the best people I’ve ever met.”