Rev. John E. Unsworth was raised in East Providence and received his MA in Religious Studies from the University of Louvain in Belgium. He was ordained a priest in September of 1976 at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in East Greenwich. He then served for nine years as the assistant pastor of St. Mary's Church in Newport. From there he was assigned as the assistant pastor at St. Matthew's Parish in Cranston. In 1987 he was named pastor of St. Mary's Church in Pawtucket and then pastor of St. Brendan's in Riverside in 1996. Both of his previous pastorates were parishes with schools and he was involved in Catholic Education in many ways, including several years serving on the Diocesan School Board. He has also served terms as a member of the Diocesan Building Commission and the Priest's Personal Board.

Fr. Unsworth (also known as Fr. Jack) begins his service here at St. Bernard's on July 1st and brings with him the many experiences he has had in his previous assignments. We will have a chance to get to know him well over the summer months before Bishop Tobin visits the parish on Saturday, September 11th to formally install him as our new pastor.