Photo By Michael AlexanderAtlanta
Seven Priests Recognized At Annual Jubilee Mass
By STEPHEN O'KANE, Staff Writer | Published June 24, 2010
More than 50 clergymen joined in celebration with Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory to recognize seven priests who have reached a jubilee year of their priesthood in 2010.
The celebration began with Mass at the Cathedral of Christ the King on Wednesday, May 26, and was followed by a reception for the honorees and their colleagues. Friends, family and parishioners filled the pews in a sign of support for their local priests.
Recognized at the Mass were golden jubilarians (50 years) Franciscan Father David Hyman, Jesuit Father Albert C. Louapre, Father Edward O’Connor, and silver jubilarians (25 years) Father Patrick Donaghey, Marist Father Timothy Keating, Father Peter Rau, and Franciscan Father Thomas Vigliotta.
“The true path to real leadership has always been discovered through the service of others the Lord Jesus reminds them and us as well,” said Archbishop Gregory during his homily. “Christ cautions them as he cautions all believers that if one truly desires greatness, position, influence, authority, and stature that one finds them only in devoted service to other people.”
Franciscan Father David Hyman, associate campus minister for the University of Georgia Catholic Center, Athens, joins his brother priests during the May 26 Jubilee Celebration of the Eucharist for priesthood ordination anniversaries. Father Hyman was one of three priests celebrating 50 years as a priest. Photo by Michael Alexander
“The office of priesthood is established ultimately according to those criteria,” the archbishop continued. “To be found among those who care pastorally for our brothers and sisters is established upon the wisdom that … leadership in the community Jesus founded is eternally wedded to service.”
Archbishop Gregory told the crowd of nearly 200 people that the Jubilee Mass recognizes the entire office of priesthood as well and that all of the priests present were celebrating some milestone in their life this year. So when the time came for the renewal of the priestly commitment, all priests present participated in the final prayer.
“In thanksgiving, and conscious of our foibles and weaknesses, we renew our commitment to you in the ordained priesthood, so that we may be your effective ministers in continuing, in accordance with your will, the good work which you have entrusted to us,” the priests prayed together at the end of the renewal of the priestly commitment.
“Today we honor those among us who have reached a certain important moment in their lives as priests—25 and 50 years—although in truth all those of us who are priests of whatever length of time are invited to praise God for his fidelity in our lives and for the opportunity to be his priests during this particular epoch in the history of the Church,” said Archbishop Gregory.
Golden Jubilarians
Father Hyman was born in Strykersville, N.Y., in 1932 and was ordained a priest in Washington, D.C., on March 12, 1960, by Cardinal Amleto Cicognani, apostolic delegate from the Vatican to the United States. The Franciscan priest currently serves as the associate campus minister for the Catholic Center of the University of Georgia in Athens. He has spent most of his priesthood in parish work and in campus ministry, serving particularly in the South in recent years, specifically in Tennessee, North and South Carolina. He has been pastor at St. Anthony Church, Greenville, S.C., and at St. Mary Church, Anderson, S.C. Father Hyman has also served on the provincial council for the Holy Name Province of the Franciscan order.
Jesuit Father Albert Louapre was born in New Orleans in 1930 and was ordained a priest on June 15, 1960, at Spring Hill College, Mobile, Ala., by Archbishop Thomas Toolen. Father Louapre, who currently works as the retreat director for the Jesuit Retreat Center at Ignatius House, Atlanta, has served all over the country, including assignments at the Jesuit Spirituality Center, Grand Coteau, La., and principal of Jesuit College Preparatory, Dallas, Texas, among other Jesuit assignments in Tampa, Fla., and Washington, D.C. He holds a licentiate in sacred theology and a master’s degree in secondary education.
Father Edward O’Connor was born in Roscommon, Ireland, in 1935, and was ordained a priest on June 19, 1960, at St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth County, Kildaire, Ireland, by Most Reverend John McQuaid, Primate of Ireland. Father O’Connor arrived in the U.S. the same year he was ordained and first served as parochial vicar of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Atlanta. Assignments since then have included serving as a teacher as St. Pius X High School, Atlanta, as well as parochial vicar at St. John the Evangelist Church, Hapeville, and Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Decatur. He has been the pastor of St. Peter Church, LaGrange, St. Mary Church, Rome, Holy Cross Church, Atlanta, St. Michael Church, Gainesville, Holy Trinity Church, Peachtree City, and Queen of Angels Church, Thomson. He was the founding pastor of St. Theresa Church, Douglasville.
St. Peter Chanel Church staff and parishioners surround their pastor and silver jubilarian Father Peter Rau, front row, center. Photo By Michael Alexander
Silver Jubilarians
Father Patrick Donaghey was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1949 and was ordained a priest on June 29, 1985, at St. Brigid Church, Derry, by Atlanta Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan. His first assignment in the Archdiocese of Atlanta was serving as parochial vicar at St. John the Evangelist Church, Hapeville. Since then he has worked in local parishes including St. Joseph Church, Athens, St. Francis of Assisi, Blairsville, and St. John Neumann Church, Lilburn, before becoming pastor at St. Stephen the Martyr Church, Lilburn, where he still serves.
Marist Father Timothy Keating was born in Chicago in 1941 and was ordained a priest on June 1, 1985, by Archbishop Thomas Murphy in Chicago. The priest, who currently serves as the Provincial of the Atlanta Province of the Marist Fathers and Brothers, first served as associate pastor at St. Julian Eymard Church, New Orleans, and subsequently as the director of formation for Marist College, Washington, D.C. He was the executive director of the Conference of Major Superiors in Silver Spring, Md., from 1992 until 2005. He holds a law degree from DePaul University in Chicago and is a licensed civil attorney in Illinois and the District of Columbia.
Father Peter Rau was born in New York City in 1957 and graduated from Georgia State University before entering seminary. He was ordained a priest on June 1, 1985, at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, by Archbishop Thomas A. Donnellan. His first assignment in the Archdiocese of Atlanta was serving as parochial vicar at St. Thomas Aquinas, Alpharetta. Since then he has worked in local parishes including St. Jude Church, Atlanta, and Holy Family Church, Marietta. He was named pastor of Prince of Peace Church, Buford, in 1992 and since then has served as pastor of St. Mark Church, Clarkesville, and administrator of the mission of St. Helena, Clayton. He was pastor of Good Shepherd Church, Cumming, from 1996 until 2008. Father Rau currently serves as pastor of St. Peter Chanel Church, Roswell.
Franciscan Father Thomas Vigliotta was born in Patchogue, N.Y., in 1949 and was ordained a priest on Oct. 19, 1985, at St. Camillus Church, Silver Spring, Md., by then Bishop James P. Lyke, OFM. Father Vigliotta spent 16 years in the Franciscan Ministry of the Word, leading retreats and parish missions while based in Clearwater, Fla., and Anderson, S.C. He became campus minister at the Catholic Center at the University of Georgia, Athens, in 2005 and was assigned as director of the Catholic Center in 2007, where he still serves. In addition to a master’s in divinity, he holds a master of arts in school counseling.