Board of Directors
Aid to the Church in Need is blessed to have a fine group of both lay and religious who, while doing so much for the Catholic communities in which they serve, now lend their time, deep faith and vast knowledge to further the mission of our organization.
George J. Marlin served two terms as Executive Director and CEO of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (1995-1997). In that capacity he managed 35 facilities, including the World Trade Center, La Guardia, JFK, and Newark Airports, PATH Subway and the four bridges and two tunnels that connect New York and New Jersey.
In 1993, Mr. Marlin was the Conservative Party nominee for mayor of the City of New York. In 1994, he served on Governor-elect Pataki’s transition team and in 2010 served on Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo’s transition team. Mr. Marlin has been a member of the Governor of New York’s Council of Economic and Fiscal Advisors and served as a Director of the Nassau County Interim Finance Authority (NIFA), a state fiscal oversight and control board (2010-2014).
Mr. Marlin is the author/editor of numerous books including The American Catholic Voter: Two Hundred Years of Political Impact, Narcissist Nation: Reflections of a Blue-State Conservative, Squandered Opportunities: New York’s Pataki Years, Fighting the Good Fight: A History of the New York Conservative Party, The Quotable Chesterton, Quotable Fulton Sheen and Quotable Paul Johnson. Mr. Marlin has also served as general editor of The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton.
Most recently he is the author of Christian Persecutions in the Middle East; a 21st Century Tragedy, and, with Brad Miner, Sons of St. Patrick, A History of the Archbishops of New York City. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, New York Post, National Review, New York Daily News and Newsday.
Abbot Eugene Joseph Hayes was born in 1951 in Brooklyn, New York, the second of six children. He attended the preparatory high school seminary for the Diocese of Brooklyn and also its college-seminary. In 1973, Eugene Hayes joined the Norbertine Fathers at St. Michael’s in Orange County.
After his ordination to the priesthood in 1977, Fr. Eugene continued the Norbertine tradition of teaching. A decade later and with a doctoral degree in canon law, Fr. Eugene was elected to help the Norbertine Order on the international level. He moved to Rome, Italy and worked closely with officials in Vatican City on behalf of Norbertines from around the world.
In June 1995 Fr. Eugene was elected by his confreres as Abbot of St. Michael’s Abbey. He continues this task to today. Currently, Abbot Eugene’s focus is building a new abbey monastery and church necessitated by the growth of the community from the original seven founding fathers to now almost 80 members of which 34 are seminarians. This building project is an important milestone in Catholic Church history for Southern California.
Fr. Gabriel Stack was born in 1957 in Cleveland, Ohio, the fifth of seven children. He graduated from Kennett public high school in Southeast Missouri. In 1975 Gabriel Stack joined the Norbertine Fathers at St. Michael’s in Orange County.
After his ordination to the priesthood in 1982, Fr. Gabriel entered the abbey’s teaching apostolate for which the Norbertines of St. Michael’s are so highly regarded. In the late 1980s Fr. Gabriel assisted on the international level by serving as the vice rector of the Norbertine generalate in Rome, Italy. Returning to the US, Fr. Gabriel reentered the classroom and accepted a position on the board of ACN-US. Fr. Gabriel finished his doctoral degree in education in 1993.
In 1995 Fr. Gabriel was appointed as headmaster of St. Michael’s Preparatory School; a position he held until 2012. Currently, Fr. Gabriel is the secretary to Abbot Eugene Hayes.
Bishop John Bonnici has served as pastor of Saint Columba Church in Chester, NY since 2008; previously, he was pastor of Saint Philip Neri Church in the Bronx, NY. He completed studies for the priesthood at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. A native of New York, he was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal John O’Connor in 1991.
From 1994-2013, he taught theology at St. Joseph’s Seminary, in Dunwoodie, NY, in addition to courses in social justice and the theology of marriage & human sexuality. From 1996-2001, he was Director of the Family Life/Respect Life Office of the Archdiocese of New York; he served as Chair of the New York State Pro-Life Coordinators Conference and was a member of the Public Policy committee of the New York State Catholic Conference. From 2002-2008, Bishop Bonnici was a Trustee of the City of New York (CUNY).
He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York by Pope Francis in January 2022 and was consecrated bishop in St. Patrick’s Cathedral on March 1, 2022. Bishop Bonnici is the Episcopal Vicar for Westchester and Rockland Counties.
Bishop Bonnici holds a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family/Pontifical Lateran University. He is the author of numerous articles on friendship, human sexuality, marriage and co-habitation. He is the co-author, with Joseph Giandurco, of “Partners in Life and Love” and the author of “Person to Person: Friendship and Love in the Life of Hans Urs von Balthasar.”
Christian Browne is an attorney in private practice with the law firm of McLaughlin & Stern LLP. He began his career in government service as a legislative aid in the administration of New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and, after graduation from law school, worked as an assistant district attorney in the New York County (Manhattan) District Attorney’s Office.
Mr. Browne presently serves as chairman of the board of the Alliance for Catholic Education, a not-for-profit corporation based in Brooklyn, dedicated to providing an affordable Catholic education for students in need. He is the author of a historical play, The Pearl of Great Price: Pius VI & the Sack of Rome, published in 2020.
Mr. Browne is a graduate of Regis High School in Manhattan. He earned his undergraduate degree from the College of Holy Cross (B.A., cum laude) and his law degree from Fordham University.
He resides in Rockville Centre, New York with his wife and four children.