Black Parish, White Priest

In 1973 when there were no Black priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Father Denis O’Callaghan joyously accepted appointment as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary, a largely Black parish in Chester, one of the poorest cities in Pennsylvania. When his Black parishioners skeptically asked, “how long are you going to stay?” he answered, “until I die.” When asked, “why did you come here?” he responded, “because I wanted to be here. I knew a lot about your hurts, and I wanted to help you heal those hurts. I saw this parish as a place where I could live the gospel of Jesus Christ as fully as I possibly could. As I have gotten to know you, I have come to love you very deeply. For a long time before I came here, I felt called by the Holy Spirit to be here. I came with enthusiasm and joy. It was the fulfillment of a dream.” Like a “Black thinking priest,” for nearly six years, he strove to lift up his people in the struggle against pervasive racism, poverty, and corruption. After ordination in 1950 and service as an assistant in eight parishes, Denis was overjoyed on being named pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary in December 1973. As a White priest serving a predominantly Black congregation, he knew that his first responsibility was to gain their confidence. Stepping out of his rectory, he went out into the streets, meeting his people in their daily lives, sharing their joys and sorrows, caring for their needs, defending them against discrimination and oppression. While encouraging their sense of self-worth, he urged them to speak up and demand their rights. Eventually, tensions arose in the parish school, whose students were all Black and most were non-Catholics. From its founding, the school was staffed by nuns, the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who were mostly White. During two contentious meetings in the spring of 1979, some parents protested that the nuns disrespected their children. Believing that Denis favored the parents, the nuns complained to John Cardinal Krol, Archbishop of Philadelphia. Denis had an expansive vision of priesthood that extended well beyond the walls of Immaculate Heart of Mary church and school. Following the example of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, he went out into the community and challenged a notoriously corrupt municipal administration for failing to attend to the grievances of his people. Working with the city’s Black ministers, he endeavored to improve the quality of life for everyone. With that purpose he helped to develop the Chester Community Improvement Project, an organization of churches and social agencies collaborating to achieve their common goal. He also was instrumental in establishing Better Housing for Chester with the aim of providing low-cost housing for the poor. As a member of the Government Study Commission, he worked to reform the municipal government. His outspokenness provoked the hostility of the politicians, who, it was believed, made their own complaints to Cardinal Krol. The tensions within the parish school and his confrontation with the municipal authorities coalesced in July 1979, when Cardinal Krol abruptly removed him as pastor and assigned him as assistant pastor to a parish in Philadelphia. Under protest, Denis obeyed the cardinal, but as he prepared to move to his new parish, he exclaimed, “All I want to do is cry, because these are my people.” As the cardinal based his decision on anonymous sources which he refused to identify, despite the persistent demands of Denis and his canon lawyer, Denis asserted that his right to due process was violated and demanded a hearing in accordance with canon law. The controversy was resolved in March 1980 when Denis resigned as pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish on condition that Cardinal Krol allow him to accept an invitation to join the newly formed Department of Pastoral Theology at Saint Mary Seminary in Baltimore. For the next four years until his death of colon cancer in 1984, he devoted himself to teaching seminarians the ordinary, everyday business of being a pastor of a parish. This story of an activist priest should be of interest to anyone concerned about the relationships of Blacks and Whites in an urban setting. It is also an important chapter in the history of the city of Chester, long troubled by racial tension and corrupt administration, and in the history of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, especially during the tenure of Cardinal Krol. As a description of the daily struggles of a parish priest, his interaction with his parishioners and the broader community, and the tortured misapplication of canon law, it should be of particular interest to priests, especially those of the Archdiocese, canon lawyers, and church historians concerned about ecclesiastical politics. As Denis ended his career teaching seminarians at Saint Mary Seminary, this volume could serve as a useful textbook for young men wondering about the nuts and bolts of being a parish priest. Finally, this story is what Father Andrew Greeley had in mind when he commented: “I wonder how long the church will continue to destroy the best of its own.” While most of the principal actors in this drama are now deceased, Denis’s correspondence with archdiocesan officials, his memoranda of conversations, the texts presented in the canonical process, newspaper accounts, and numerous letters of love and support addressed to Denis provide the foundation on which this study rests. In presenting the issues and conflicting positions of the persons involved, I have adhered, as Professor Emeritus of Medieval History at Fordham University, to the practices characteristic of historical research, and I have drawn conclusions that I believe to be warranted. As Denis’s younger brother, I have tried to be as honest and as accurate as possible. This is a case study of one White priest’s efforts to assist his Black parishioners in escaping the vicious cycle of poverty and racism, and the rejection of his work by the cardinal archbishop.