Father Donald Babinski, associate pastor at St. Aidan's Roman Catholic Church in Williston Park, has been named as the new pastor of St. Vincent de Paul's Church in Elmont.

The appointment, which becomes effective October 31, was announced by the Diocese of Rockville Centre last week.

"I guess I see it as something of a challenge," Father Babinski said on Tuesday. "In making the transition to pastor, what I'll be doing is trying to take 17 years of experience gained in the various other places I've been and making those lessons work at St. Vincent's."

Ordained a priest in 1981, the pastor-designate previously served as associate pastor of Our Lady Redeemer Church in Freeport and at St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre.

"Above and beyond that, ministering to the people of Elmont should be an interesting and challenging experience in its own right," Father Babinski continued. "Traditionally, the community served by St. Vincent's is Italian-Irish, but more recently other ethnic groups have begun to come in, and that, in and of itself, should make life in the parish very interesting."

Born in Queens, St. Vincent's new pastor said he knew quite early on that he wanted to be a priest. Asked how early, he offered a sheepish chuckle, then explained.

"I was probably just a little kid, something like 4 years old, when I settled upon the idea of becoming a priest," he said. "The funny thing is, I never expect anyone to believe that when I tell them.

"When you enter seminary, you go through a whole series of psychological tests, and I can remember not anticipating them with much enthusiasm because I knew sooner or later, someone would ask, 'When did you decide to be a priest?'

"After the psychological exams were finished, I mentioned to the gentleman doing them that I felt shy about telling him the story of when I was 4 years old and was seized by this thought, but he said, 'Don't feel that way. In my experience, what you're describing is not uncommon.'

"Come to think of it," Father Babinski laughed, "I still don't know if he told me that just to make me feel better."

Though he felt the call at a precocious age, the future Father Babinski attended public schools in his native Queens and in Uniondale before entering the St. Ladislaus School in Hempstead.

He studied for the priesthood at the former St. Pius X Preparatory Seminary, Uniondale; Cathedral College, Douglaston, and Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington.

Before ordination, he also completed a period of active duty at the Naval Education and Training Center in Newport, Rhode Island, and has served as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

Father Babinski succeeds Father Joseph M. Hickey, who died suddenly at the parish rectory on July 4.

Pastor at St. Vincent's from 1985 to the time of his death, Father Hickey was just 57 years old at the time of his passing and had only recently marked the 30th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.

Though the event that ultimately led to his appointment as pastor could not have been foreseen, Father Babinski said that thoughts of becoming a pastor had been on his mind for some time.

"I am at an age when you start to think that becoming a pastor is a real possibility, but I must say I was surprised that my appointment came at this time of year," he explained.

"Generally, transfers are effective in June, so that you have the relatively slow period of July and August to become acclimated and set your priorities in place. Here, I'm going to have to jump in and proceed full steam ahead."

Of becoming a pastor, Father said, "I think everyone wants to be able to sort of mold a place as they would like, what they think a church is, and what community is, and what faith is.

"It gives you an opportunity to be more, I guess you could say, 'directional' than you have in the past. It's an appointment that comes with a lot of responsibility and is fairly demanding. On the one hand, you have to continue to try to be pastoral, while on the other, you now have the whole administrative thing which you can't shy away from."

Asked about the future of the parish outreach program, the centerpiece of Father Hickey's tenure at St. Vincent's, Father said he would continue to be very committed to the program.

"After all, the people of this parish have shown that they are tremendously generous, with their time and their resources, when it comes to the outreach.

"And then, of course, it's kind of implied by the name of our parish. Our patron saint was a man of enormous compassion, and I think it only natural that we continue in his tradition."