ARTICLES

Three diocesan priests celebrate Golden Jubilee

By Steve Neill
Of The Catholic Virginian

Three priests of the Diocese of Richmond celebrated the 50th anniversary of their ordination to the priesthood in May.

They are Msgr. Thomas Caroluzza, former Vicar of the diocese’s Eastern Vicariate who now lives in Portsmouth; Father Robert J. McEleney, who now lives in Appomattox, and Father Thomas J. Quinlan, who lives in a house on the grounds of Ascension parish in Virginia Beach.

All three were ordained priests by Auxiliary Bishop Joseph H. Hodges on May 1, 1958 at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond. Bishop Peter L. Ireton, who had served as ninth Bishop of Richmond, had died four days earlier on April 27.

Three other men were ordained at the same ceremony. They were the late Father Richard D. Dollard, who was serving as pastor of St. Timothy parish, Tappahannock, when he died March 3, 1998; Father John Janssens Foley, who left the priesthood in the 1960s, and the late Father William F. Ruehl, a retired priest of the Diocese of Arlington who retired in 2005 as pastor of St. John parish in Front Royal. He moved to Elizabeth City, N.C., and died in December 2007.

Celebrating 50 years of ministry, Msgr. Caroluzza presided at an anniversary liturgy May 4 at Holy Spirit Church in Virginia Beach where he had served as pastor from 1986 to 2001.

Bishop Emeritus Walter F. Sullivan, who concelebrated at the Mass, called Msgr. Caroluzza a friend, co-worker, an educator, an innovator, a planner and a visionary.

He noted that over the years Msgr. Caroluzza “worked tirelessly renewing the Church through parish ministry, teaching as a member of the national RENEW staff and through services on an endless number of diocesan commissions.”

Bishop Sullivan jokingly called him “an instigator” but one whose vision was surpassed by his love for the Church.

In reminiscing about his first years while a “baby priest,” Msgr. Caroluzza said, “The real seminary is in the parish where people know what they want from their clergy and call us to be that.”

He told the hundreds of family and friends who had come from near and far that “ministry is something that happens when a priest learns what it means to be a priest.”

Judging by testimonials offered at the reception, Msgr. Caroluzza learned well what it means to be a priest.

Through his commitment to the RCIA, his dedication to small faith communities and so much more, he shared his vocation to the priesthood by empowering others to take ownership of their faith and their Church.

In closing, Msgr. Caroluzza reminded those present of the importance of waiting for God who is always there.

“We pray, we hope, we believe and we wait for God to act in our life, our Church and our world,” he said.

Father McEleney celebrated his Golden Jubilee Mass May 4 at St. Thomas More Church in Lynchburg.

“The years of my priesthood have been happy years, even if at times they were challenging,” he told The Catholic Virginian.

The priest, who turned 80 on April 15, lives in his own home in Appomattox. He says he followed the advice of Bishop Sullivan and made provision for his own home upon retiring from the active priestly ministry in 1999.

“Father Mark Lane, in his homily at my 50th anniversary Mass at St. Thomas More in Lynchburg, said that I became proficient in retirement,” he said, laughing.

It was after his “official” retirement that he became pastor of three Southside parishes — Immaculate Heart of Mary, Blackstone; St. John the Baptist, Crewe, and Sacred Heart, Meherrin, where he worked with Therese Mansfield, who was pastoral coordinator of the three parish communities.

“I also served at St. Theresa’s in Farmville for almost a year when Father Joe Metzger was reassigned,” he said.

“Now I’m retired and help out when called upon in case of a priest’s sickness or vacation. I’ll be available for places nearby and can say two Masses on a weekend.”

Father McEleney has had some health issues in the past few years and has neuropathy in both legs.

“My health is good for all the years I’ve lived,” he said.

He says his favorite assignment over the years was his first permanent assignment on the faculty of Portsmouth Catholic High School where he taught speech, English and Latin.

“Those were some of the most productive and happiest years of my life,” he said.

“I’ve never been unhappy in the priesthood,” Father McEleney said. “There’s a silver lining anywhere if you look for it.

“I thank God for the priesthood and the kindness and goodness of the people of the parishes in Virginia.”

Father Quinlan had by far the largest gathering for his Golden Jubilee Mass May 11 inside a tent on the grounds of Church of the Ascension in Virginia Beach. He had felt that the number of guests he invited to the liturgy would be more than the church could handle.

“I’m just grateful, excited and happy,” he told The Catholic Virginian a few days before the anniversary Mass.

The oldest of 10 children and one of six still living, Father Quinlan grew up in Chicopee, Mass. Throughout his 50 years of priesthood he says he has always had a strong interest in helping the poor.

“I became a priest to serve other people and work with different classes of society, especially the poor,” he said.

“There weren’t enough agencies around at that time to take care of their needs.”

He says he will never forget advice he got from the late Msgr. Martin Quinn, who was pastor of Blessed Sacrament parish in Alexandria, and served as his mentor when he was a newly ordained priest at the parish where he served from 1958 to 1963.

“He said ‘If you don’t take care of the sick and the poor, quit,’” Father Quinlan recalls. “I always tried to live by that.”

While he was pastor at Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha parish in Poquoson, he developed a thrift shop whose proceeds were to help the poor. He had strong opposition in getting it started.

“Nobody wanted me to open it,” Father Quinlan said. “They said there were no poor people in Poquoson and I laughed at them.”

Today the Thrift Shop brings in approximately $300,000 a year.

“It allows funds to help keep people from being evicted from their homes,” Father Quinlan said.

In August 1974 after he had been ordained a priest for 16 years Father Quinlan was serving as pastor of Good Shepherd parish in Mount Vernon when the new Diocese of Arlington was established. He requested to return to the Diocese of Richmond and then Bishop Thomas J. Welch immediately granted his request.

“The clergy of Northern Virginia and I had totally different theologies,” he said. “I would tease them and they would tease me.”

The Gospel Choir of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Norfolk sang at the Jubilee Mass.

“Serving that parish was the delight of my life,” Father Quinlan said, adding that he was pastor of the largely African American parish from 1974 to 1985.

Reflecting on the vocation he chose more than 50 years ago, he said, “I couldn’t think of another thing in life I would have wanted to do more.”

He left May 13 to visit his family’s home parish of St. Mary’s in Chicopee, Mass., where he was to celebrate Mass.

(Barbara Hughes contributed to this article.)

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