Fr. James T. Donovan, S.J., Pastor, was appointed Pastor of St. Anthony's in June, 2018. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up Malverne, Long Island. Fr. Donovan’s Catholic education dates back to grammar school at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Malverne. He is an alumnus of Maria Regina Diocesan High School in Uniondale.

A graduate of Le Moyne College in Syracuse, New York, Fr. Donovan earned a bachelor’s degree in biology in 1986. 
After graduation, Fr. Donovan began his teaching career at St. Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows, New York, where he taught biology and chemistry for three years.

In 1991, he earned a master’s degree in education from Fordham University in New York and then joined the faculty at Christ the King Regional High School in Middle Village, New York. From 1993 through 2004, Fr. Donovan taught chemistry, biology and earth science at Garden City High School in New York, serving for the last four years of his tenure as chair of the school’s science department while earning a certificate of advanced study in school administration from Hofstra University.

In 2004, Fr. Donovan entered the Society of Jesus. Following the novitiate, Fr. Donovan was missioned for philosophy and theology studies at Fordham University, where he also worked part-time in hospital ministry at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx and tutored at Cristo Rey High School in Harlem.
For regency, Fr. Donovan taught chemistry and theology at Regis High School in Manhattan. During his years of formation, Fr. Donovan also directed retreats at the Jesuit Retreat Center in Los Altos, California, and completed intensive training in spiritual direction.

Ordained a deacon in 2012, he has served at St. Leo’s Church in Oakland, California, and San Quentin State Prison while earning his Master of Divinity degree at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California. 
Fr. Donovan was ordained in 2013 and his first assignment after ordination was at St. Anthony’s Parish in Oceanside, N.Y. 

After a year at St. Anthony’s he taught science at Xavier High School for two years and then spent a year at the Loyola Jesuit Center in Morristown, N.J. directing retreats.
Fr. Donovan returned to St. Anthony's in 2017 as Associate Pastor.