Congratulations to Father Ed Brienz, who retired from active ministry earlier this year on July 1.
Father Brienz was born in Youngstown to Edward Senior and Irene Turjanica Brienz, in 1954. He attended Youngstown Public School until his family moved to Trumbull County. He graduated from Maplewood High School in Cortland, and attended Youngstown State University (YSU) for a time, but took a break to work various jobs. After serious consideration of his vocation, he returned to YSU, earning a bachelor’s in social work in 1990.
After YSU, he progressed to Mount St. Mary of the West Seminary in Cincinnati, earning a master of divinity degree in 1996.
Ordained a priest by Bishop Thomas Tobin in St. Columba Cathedral in 1996, Father Brienz was first assigned as associate pastor of St. Mary in Massillon (now a part of Divine Mercy Parish).
He subsequently served as associate pastor of St. Joseph in Austintown (now a part of St. Blaise Parish) from 1997 to 1998. He was assigned as associate pastor of St. Joan of Arc in Canton (now a part of Guardian Angels Parish) in 1998. From 2002, he served as administrator of a succession of parishes, Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Niles (now part of St. Pope John XXIII Parish), St. John the Baptist in Campbell (now part of Christ the Good Shepherd Parish) and St. Patrick in Leetonia (now part of St. Carlo Acutis Parish).
In 2005, Father Brienz was appointed to the role of diocesan disaster liaison for the Youngstown Diocese following Hurricane Katrina. He led a group of St. Vincent de Paul Society volunteers assisting in relief, recovery and rebuilding. “That changed my ministry,” Father Brienz would later recount. Over a three-year period, he made return trips to New Orleans, serving as chaplain for volunteers from Youngstown diocesan parishes and from other dioceses. Later, he took some of those volunteers during several summers to Kentucky for home missionary work.
In 2006, he was assigned to associate pastor of St. Columba Cathedral. In 2010, he assumed the additional responsibility of diocesan director of the Office of Mission/Propagation of the Faith, a position where he continued to serve until 2025.
In 2015, he was named to the additional duties of administrator of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in McDonald (now part of Queen of Heaven Parish). During that time, he also founded, along with numerous volunteers, the Café Augustine, which operated a restaurant to offer employment opportunities for at-risk teens and young adults and provided job and life skills training for the young people. The Café Augustine continued until 2024.
He was appointed vice rector of St. Columba and associate pastor of St. Edward Parish and Holy Apostles Parish in Youngstown in 2023, with residence at St. Columba.
In 2025, Father Brienz was named sacramental minister for St. Catherine of Sienna Parish in Boardman, and to a part-time assignment with the diocesan Catholic Cemetery and Funeral Services, while continuing in residence at St. Columba.
Father Brienz retired on July 1 of this year, but continues to serve part-time with the diocesan Catholic Cemetery and Funeral Services.
Anyone wishing to send congratulations to Father Brienz can do so at: The Youngstown Diocese, 144 W. Wood St., Youngstown, Ohio 44503.
