Father Albert Joseph Castellino, C.Ss.R., 91, of Liguori died March 23, 2026, at SSM Health St. Clare Hospital in Fenton. Father Albert was a dedicated Redemptorist missionary and preached in four languages on five continents for nearly six decades. He professed temporary vows with the Province of Bangalore on Aug. 2, 1954, and perpetual vows on Aug. 2, 1957. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 27, 1961. He met and worked with St. Teresa of Calcutta in his native country of India. He served as associate pastor of Our Lady of Fatima and superior of Holy Redeemer Church in Alambagh, Lucknow, before he began the preaching apostolate. He was a contemporary of Father Peter DeSousa, C.Ss.R., who launched the Marriage Encounter program in Bangalore in 1973. Couples from the U.S. assisted in building the program in India and asked him to return to the U.S. to lead the program in the Diocese of Boise. There, he became involved in other dynamic movements within the church: the Cursillo and Charismatic movements, as well as Teens Encounter Christ and Engaged Couples Weekends. He pursued admittance to the former Oakland Province and began preaching missions throughout the West Coast in 1981. He eventually joined the former St. Louis Province in 1988, and was known as a creative, engaging and effective itinerant preacher. He maintained an extensive network of friends throughout the country.
As a member of the Mission Team, he was stationed in Chicago at St. Alphonsus Parish from 1986 to 1993 and St. Michael Parish from 1993 until 1999, when he was assigned to St. Joseph Parish in Denver, Colo. Five years later, he transferred to Liguori Mission House in Liguori and officially retired in 2005. He moved to St. Clement Health Care Center as his health began to fail in 2013, and then on to a nearby skilled nursing facility. He welcomed weekly visits from his confreres and was a devoted Redemptorist for more than 70 years. He was born Sept. 25, 1934, in Pune vel Poona, a city in Maharashtra, India.
Father Albert chose to be cremated. A rosary service is scheduled from 3 p.m. until a prayer vigil at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 26, at St. Clement Redemptorist Mission Community Chapel, 300 Liguori Drive, in Barnhart. A Mass of Resurrection is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday, March 27, at the chapel. Inurnment will take place at a later date. Arrangements are under the direction of Vinyard Funeral Home in Festus.