Skip to content
  • Mass Time Finder
  • Parish Locator
  • Donate
  • Search
  • News & Events
    • The WINDOW Newsletter
    • Workshops & Seminars
    • Pilgrimages
    • Upfront Podcast
  • Faith
    • About the Catholic Faith
    • People of Mission
    • Sacraments
      • Baptism
      • Confession
      • Confirmation
      • Eucharist
      • Holy Orders
      • Anointing of the Sick
    • Prayer and Worship
      • About the Mass
      • Daily Readings
      • Grace at Meals
      • Prayers
    • Perpetual Adoration
    • Deepen Your Faith
      • Catechesis
      • Scripture Study
      • Preparing for Lent
      • Nothing More Beautiful
    • Becoming Catholic (RCIA)
      • RCIA Process
    • Liturgy
  • Ministries & Services
    • Administration & Offices
      • Accounting and Finance
      • Archives and Sacramental Records
      • Building Services
      • Communications
      • Human Resources
      • Information Technology
      • Marriage Tribunal (Annulment)
    • Cemeteries
    • Indigenous Relations
      • Catholic Truth and Reconciliation Resources
      • Delegation To Rome – Spring 2022
      • Walking Together: The Papal Apology and Visit of Reconciliation – July 2022
      • Indigenous Reconciliation Fund
        • Grant Application – Indigenous Reconciliation Fund
      • Residential Schools
    • Safe Environment & Abuse Prevention
      • Report Abuse
      • Called to Protect
      • Volunteer Management
    • Youth & Young Adults
      • Activities
      • Camp
      • Catechesis
      • Holy Childhood Association
      • Schools & Colleges
      • World Youth Day
    • Life & Family
      • Marriage Enrichment
      • Family Planning
      • Grief
      • Courage – Encourage
      • Divorced and Re-married
      • Marriage Tribunal (Annulment)
    • Ecumenical & Interfaith Relations
      • Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
      • World Day of Prayer
      • Outdoor Way of the Cross
      • Ecumenical Annual Reports
    • Social Justice
      • Interfaith Housing Initiative
      • No Room in the Inn
      • Development & Peace
    • Hospital & Healthcare Ministry
      • Pastoral Care Visitors
      • Chaplains
    • Prison Ministry
    • Papal Blessings
  • Get Involved
    • Find a Career
    • Serve on Parish Council
      • Together in Ministry
    • Homebound & Hospital Visits
      • Pastoral Care Certificate
  • Vocations
    • Priesthood
    • Permanent Diaconate
    • St. Joseph’s Seminary
    • Vocations
    • Consecrated Life
  • Ways to Give
    • Donate Now
    • Together We Serve
    • Legacy Giving
    • Fundraising Events
    • Foundation of St. Joseph Seminary and Newman Theological College
  • Archbishop
    • Offices & Staff
    • Alberta Provincial Election
    • Pastoral Letters
    • Messages & Homilies
    • Upfront Podcast
    • Hope & Dignity: A Catholic Response to MAiD
    • Synod
    • Archbishop’s Dinner
  • About
    • History
      • Coat of Arms
      • Icon of St. Joseph the Worker
      • Past Bishops
    • Priests
    • Parishes & Mass Times
    • Consecrated Orders
    • Councils & Associations
      • Archdiocesan Pastoral Council
      • Lay Associations
      • Indigenous Relations Council
    • Schools & Colleges
    • Offices & Staff
    • Policies & Procedures
    • Annual Reports
    • Archives & Records
    • Twin Diocese
    • Careers
    • Retreat Centres
  • Contact
Parishes & Mass Times
Find Clergy
Donate
Become a Volunteer

Latest News

All News

Archdiocese contributes $3.2M to national Indigenous Reconciliation Fund

The Archdiocese of Edmonton has announced it has contributed $3.2 million as part of the national Indigenous Reconciliation Fund to…
Continue Reading

Upcoming Events

All Events
24 Hours with the Lord - June ...
2023-06-09
Roots of Change Spring Fundrai...
2023-06-10
World Youth Day Dance Fundrais...
2023-06-10

Pastoral and Administration Offices

Office Hours
8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday through Friday
780-469-1010
1-844-469-1010 (Toll free)
780-465-3003
8421 101 Avenue NW
Edmonton AB T6A 0L1

NTC’s Carr Award recipient Mike Paonessa lives his faith through action

19 June 2018

Appears in: Archdiocesan News

Mike Paonessa visits the Edmonton Remand Centre every week to pray the rosary with inmates, and drives around the inner-city Boyle Street neighbourhood to provide coffee and food to the needy.

To Paonessa, it’s Christian leadership — living out the faith with action.

“We can talk about (the faith), we can read about it, we can study it, we can do all that part of it. But unless we live it and it’s a part of what we do in our lives, it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference,” said Paonessa, the deputy superintendent for Evergreen Catholic Schools in Spruce Grove.

Paonessa is being recognized as this year’s recipient of the Kevin Carr Christian Leadership Award. He will receive the award, named after Newman Theological College’s first lay president, in October.

It’s recognition he appreciates, but finds unsettling.

“I’m not the type of person that goes looking for the limelight. I like to do my work in the background, so it’s a little bit odd for me,” Paonessa said, but “I’m happy and honoured to have been recognized.”

While he feels blessed by the honour, he said he can’t take all the credit.

“I’m not just receiving this because of what I do, but of all the people that support me too.”

A veteran educator, Paonessa has served as teacher, vice-principal, and administrator for more than 30 years.

As deputy superintendent, he led the Evergreen School division’s indigenous education projects and its response to the calls of action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Last year he led the collection of 7,500 pairs of new underwear that were given out to homeless and needy people at the Uplift Day of Mercy sponsored by Catholic Social Services. He also organized the collection of chocolate bars for the Edmonton Remand Centre inmates at Christmas.

Paonessa said praying with the inmates is personally fulfilling.

“I’m very clear with them when I sit with them, ‘You’ve made some bad choices, but that doesn’t mean you’re bad people.’ So I’m here to help support them and anything I can do, hopefully, will help them.”

He also demonstrates faith in action by handing out coffee, muffins and sandwiches to the poor and homeless in inner-city Edmonton.

St. Teresa of Calcutta, who founded the Missionaries of Charity to serve the poor, sick and dying in the slums of Calcutta, India, is a role model.

Mike Paonessa

“There’s this great quote from Mother Teresa, ‘Calcutta is right here, in our families, in our communities, in our schools,’ so we certainly can’t forget that,” Paonessa said.

Evergreen Catholic Schools Superintendent Cindi Vaselenak, one of his nominators for the Kevin Carr Award, said Paonessa embodies the best in Christian leadership, witness and community engagement.

“Mike has been, since the day he got here, an exceptional Catholic role model,” Vaselenak said. “He’s very comfortable speaking about his faith and sharing his faith experience, and he responds from a faith perspective.”

Paonessa was born in Italy and came to Canada at age 5. He inherited his family’s strong faith, becoming an altar server shortly after moving to Canada. While in university, he taught catechism lessons.

“My wife (Rosie) always bugs me, because when we got married as we walked up to do our marriage, the first thing the priest said was, ‘I didn’t think I’d see you, I always thought you were going to go to the seminary!’” said Paonessa, an active member of St. Charles Parish in Edmonton.

News of the Kevin Carr Award came as a surprise, he said, in a call from Jason West, president of Newman Theological College. They both play key roles in EXCEL, the Excellence in Catholic Leadership Academy. It’s a joint program between Evergreen, St. Thomas Aquinas, and Elk Island Catholic school divisions and Newman, to help school staff develop their leadership skills in Catholic education.

Vaselenak said: “The amount of (staff) that have formal education — whether it be masters or more courses that are faith based — or understanding of what Catholic leadership is, has greatly improved. Mike’s behind a lot of the work of that.”

All three of Paonessa’s children have followed his example by becoming teachers.

The Kevin Carr Award began in 2004, and previous winners include retreat leader Sandra Prather, Catholic journalist Glen Argan and Douglas Roche, the former senator and disarmament ambassador.

Tags:

award Catholic Social Services Edmonton Remand Centre Evergreen Catholic Schools Kevin Carr Leadership Award leadership Mike Newman Theological College NTC Paonessa

Recent Posts

  • Archdiocesan News

    Archdiocese contributes $3.2M to national Indigenous Reconciliation Fund
    June 7, 2023

    The Archdiocese of Edmonton has announced it has contributed $3.2 million as part of the national Indigenous Reconciliation Fund to…

    Continue Reading

  • Archdiocesan News

    YouCat: Sources of Prayer
    June 6, 2023

    If something is important enough to us, we make time for it. It is amazing (and a little maddening for…

    Continue Reading

  • Archdiocesan News

    Hope, and tears, at a farewell to Camp Encounter
    June 1, 2023

    Over 170 former Camp Encounter campers, staff, counsellors and board members along with their families and friends, gathered May 27…

    Continue Reading

  • Archdiocesan News

    Interview: Deacon Jake Mullin on his recent ordination to the diaconate
    June 1, 2023

    Deacon Jake Mullin is the newest transitional deacon in the Archdiocese of Edmonton. He was ordained on May 26 by…

    Continue Reading

  • Archdiocesan News

    YouCat: How to Pray
    May 29, 2023

    Most of us don’t floss as often as we should. When dentists ask the question “how often do you floss?”…

    Continue Reading

Pastoral & Administration Offices
8421 101 Avenue
Edmonton, AB T6A 0L1
Phone: 780-469-1010
Toll-free: 1-844-469-1010
Privacy Information
Terms of Use
2023 Catholic Archdiocese of Edmonton