14 priests honored at chrism Mass

By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic

Photography: ANA RODRIGUEZ-SOTO | FC

During the annual chrism Mass March 22 at St. Mary Cathedral, Archbishop Thomas Wenski, along with all the clergy of the archdiocese, recognized the following priests who are marking 25, 50 and 60 years of ordination in 2016. Here are brief biographies of the jubilarians.

60 YEARS

Photographer:

Msgr. Seamus Doyle

Msgr. Seamus Doyle

Born Feb. 12, 1931 in Wexford, Ireland, Msgr. Doyle was ordained June 3, 1956 for the Diocese of Auckland, New Zealand. He served there until 1970, when he went to Denver, Colorado, and then, in 1975, to South Florida. He served as associate pastor at St. Lawrence, North Miami Beach, and St. Rose of Lima, Miami Shores until 1983, when he was appointed pastor of St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Pompano Beach. He returned to St. Rose as pastor in 1991 and served there until his retirement in January 2012. Msgr. Doyle also served as archdiocesan chaplain to the Knights of Columbus. In 2008, he received the honorary title of monsignor from Pope Benedict XVI.

Photographer:

Msgr. Vincent Kelly

Msgr. Vincent Kelly

Msgr. Kelly was born July 21, 1933 in Kilrush, County Clare, Ireland and ordained June 10, 1956 in Thurles, Ireland. He was initially assigned to the Diocese of Nebraska, where he spent 13 years as teacher and high school principal. After obtaining a degree in education administration from the University of Nebraska in 1969, he came to South Florida and was assigned to the faculty of Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale. A year later, he was named principal of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, where he remains today as supervising principal. In 1975, he was named acting superintendent of schools for the archdiocese, a position which ultimately became permanent and lasted until 2011 (having been upgraded in the meantime to vicar of Christian formation). In 2003, he took on added responsibilities as supervising principal of Cardinal Gibbons High. Concurrent with his educational work, he has served as parochial vicar at St. Pius X Church in Fort Lauderdale, and since 1982 as pastor of St. John the Baptist in Fort Lauderdale. In 1980, Msgr. Kelly founded the Archdiocesan Education Foundation, an endowment fund to secure the future of the archdiocese’s Catholic schools. He has served as president of the Florida Association of Academic Non-Public Schools, and in 2005 received the John F. Meyer Award from the National Catholic Educational Association. In 1988, the Broward Chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews awarded him their Silver Medallion. Pope St. John Paul II conferred on him the honorary title of monsignor in 1998.

Father Máximo Leoz, Piarists

Father Leoz was born Oct. 21, 1931 in San Martín de Unx, Navarra, Spain. He was ordained for the Piarist Fathers in Spain July 15, 1956, and ministered as both a priest and a professor of Spanish, Latin and French. He served as parochial vicar in parishes in Quito, Ecuador; Vallecas, Madrid; and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, before going to Brooklyn, N.Y., where he served as parochial vicar at St. Malachy from 1992 to 1999. He came to South Florida in 2002 and served at San Isidro, Pompano Beach, and at St. Malachy, Tamarac, from 2013 to 2015.

50 YEARS

Photographer:

Father John McLaughlin

Father John McLaughlin

Father McLaughlin was born Jan. 9, 1938 in Boston, Mass., but his family later moved to South Florida, where he attended St. Ann School in West Palm Beach. He was ordained May 14, 1966 for the then Diocese of Miami. As parochial vicar, he served in the following churches: Immaculate Conception, Hialeah; St. Monica, Opa-Locka; Annunciation, West Hollywood; Nativity, Hollywood; St. Mary Star of the Sea, Key West; and St. Patrick, Miami Beach. He also served as spiritual director at Msgr. Edward Pace High School, Miami Gardens; staff member at Madonna Academy (now Chaminade-Madonna College Prep) in Hollywood; assistant supervising principal at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Fort Lauderdale; and principal at Mary Immaculate High School (now closed) in Key West. In 1978, he was appointed pastor of St. Martha Church, Miami Shores, where he served until 1993. He then served as pastor of Blessed Sacrament in Fort Lauderdale until his retirement in July 2003. Father McLaughlin also has served as chaplain to the Oakland Park Police Dept.; moderator for the North Dade Deanery of the Miami Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women; member of the first Archdiocesan Synod; chaplain of the South Florida branch of Legatus; and coordinator of the ministry to retired priests in the archdiocese.

Photographer:

Father Dominick O'Dwyer

Father Dominick O’Dwyer

Born Sept. 21, 1941, in Ballinameen Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland, Father O’Dwyer is the second of eight children. He attended school in Ireland, and completed his seminary studies at St. Patrick’s College, Carlow. He was ordained June 11, 1966 in St. Mary Cathedral, Carlow, and immediately sent to South Florida, where he has served as parochial vicar at: St. Brendan, Miami; St. Luke, Lake Worth; St. Bartholomew, Miramar; St. James, North Miami; and St. Ann, Naples. In 1973, he was named administrator of the newly created parish of St. William in North Naples; and in 1986 he was named to his current post as pastor of St. Malachy, Tamarac. Two of Father O’Dwyer’s uncles were Irish Christian Brothers, and his younger brother, Thomas O’Dwyer, is also a priest of the Archdiocese of Miami.

Father John O’Grady

Father O’Grady was born Sept. 6, 1938 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and ordained May 28, 1966 in Albany, N.Y. After serving in various parishes there, he came to South Florida, where he served at St. Rose of Lima, Miami Shores, from 2005 to 2007; at St. Mary Cathedral, Miami, from 2007 to 2011; and most recently at St. Joseph, Miami Beach.  

Photographer:

Father Michael P. Sullivan

Father Michael P. Sullivan

Born Nov. 21, 1937 in Little Rock, Arkansas, Father Sullivan is one of 14 siblings. He grew up in the South Florida, attending St. Mary (later the cathedral) School in Miami and St. Patrick School in Miami Beach, and graduating from Archbishop Curley (now Curley-Notre Dame) High School in Miami. He studied history at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. before entering St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. He was ordained May 14, 1966 in St. Mary Cathedral and assigned to St. Patrick as parochial vicar. He served as parochial vicar at St. Francis of Assisi, Riviera Beach; St. Ann, Naples; and St. Joseph, Stuart before being named administrator of St. Martin in Jensen Beach in 1973. He then served as parochial vicar at Blessed Trinity, Miami Springs, and St. Gabriel, Pompano Beach, and also was in residence at St. Jerome, Fort Lauderdale. Concurrent with those assignments, he served as spiritual director at Curley and spiritual director of the Catholic Policemen and Firemen Guild of Miami-Dade County, as well as chaplain to the Boy Scout in the West Coast Deanery and campus minister at Broward Community College. He served as pastor of Our Lady of Mercy, Pompano Beach, from 1995 to 2003, and pastor of Blessed Sacrament, Fort Lauderdale, from 2003 until his retirement in 2005.

25 YEARS

Photographer:

Father William Bowles

Father William H. Bowles

Father Bowles was born March 6, 1934 in Chicago, Illinois, and obtained a degree in economics and finance from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1957. He entered the seminary as a late vocation, and was ordained Jan. 19, 1991 for the Diocese of New Ulm, Minnesota. He taught at Our Lady of Grace, a K-12 school in Edina, Minnesota, where he also served as principal. He also served as pastor of several parishes in the Diocese of New Ulm before coming to South Florida, where he serves as parochial vicar at St. John the Baptist, Fort Lauderdale.

Photographer:

Msgr. Michael Carruthers

Msgr. Michael Carruthers

Born May 6, 1964 in Manhasset, N.Y., Msgr. Carruthers moved to South Florida with his family in 1973. He was a member of St. Martin de Porres Parish in Jensen Beach and attended public schools, graduating from Martin County Senior High and Indian River Community College. In 1984, he entered St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, and completed his studies for the priesthood at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach. He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Miami May 11, 1991. He served as parochial vicar at Epiphany Parish, South Miami, before being named priest-secretary to Miami’s second and third archbishops: first, Archbishop Edward McCarthy, and then, Archbishop Emeritus John C. Favalora. Msgr. Carruthers then served as parochial vicar at Immaculate Conception Church in Hialeah, where he resided while obtaining a master’s degree in exceptional student education from Florida International University. In 2005, he was named rector of St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami. Five years later, in August 2010, he was named to his current post as pastor of St. Augustine Church and Catholic Student Center in Coral Gables. He was given the honorary title of monsignor by Pope Benedict XVI in March 2008.

Photographer:

Father Damian Flanagan

Father Damian Flanagan

Born Feb. 14, 1962 in Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland, Father Flanagan was ordained June 22, 1991 and arrived in South Florida a few months later. He has served as parochial vicar at St. Gregory in Plantation; St. Mary Cathedral; Good Shepherd, Miami; St. Augustine, Coral Gables; St. Andrew, Coral Springs; St. Catherine of Siena, Miami; and Little Flower, Coral Gables. He also was in residence at St. Clement, Fort Lauderdale and St. Brendan, Miami; and served as chaplain at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in Miami from 2010 to 2012. Since July 2012, he has served as parochial vicar of St. Hugh, Coconut Grove.

Father Arturo Kannee

Father Kannee was born Jan. 10, 1962 in Valencia, Venezuela, and ordained Aug. 15, 1991 for the Archdiocese of Valencia. He served as parochial vicar in San Rafael, Bejuma, and San Martin de Porres, Valencia; and as pastor of San Pedro y San Pablo and Nuestra Señora Coromoto in Valencia until 2005, when he was appointed director of the Missions Office for the Valencia archdiocese. He began working in the Archdiocese of Miami in 2011 and currently serves as parochial vicar at St. John Bosco Church, Miami.

Father José D. López

Father López was born July 21, 1945 in Cienfuegos, Cuba, and began studying for the priesthood at El Buen Pastor Seminary in Havana. He studied clinical pastoral education at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, before being ordained Jan. 12, 1991 for the Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi. He served as parochial vicar of St. Richard in Jackson for three years, then served one year as parochial vicar of St. Agatha in Miami. Returning to Mississippi, he served as administrator of St. Michael and St. Ann parishes, then returned permanently to Miami as parochial vicar at St. Kevin, from 1996 to 1999; parochial vicar at Sacred Heart, Homestead, from 1999 to 2002; and parochial vicar of St. John the Apostle, Hialeah, from 2002 to 2007.

Photographer:

Father Patrick Naughton

Father Patrick J. Naughton

Father Naughton was born March 27, 1959 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He studied at the University of Scranton before entering the seminary and was ordained June 22, 1991 for the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio. He served as parochial vicar at churches in Columbus, and another in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania, before coming to the Archdiocese of Miami, where he currently serves as parochial vicar at St. Gregory in Plantation.

Photographer:

Dominican Father Jorge L. Presmanes

Father Jorge Presmanes, Dominicans

Father Presmanes was born Dec. 12, 1956 in Havana, Cuba, and moved to South Florida as a child, attending Mae M. Walters Elementary and Henry Filer Junior High in Hialeah. He moved to Atlanta, Georgia for high school and obtained a degree in Philosophy from Georgia State University in 1985. He was ordained May 24, 1991 in Atlanta, Georgia, for the Dominican Order. He also has a master of divinity and a master’s in systematic theology from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, and a master’s in Hispanic ministry and doctorate in ministry from Barry University in Miami Shores. He has taught Christology and evangelization at the SouthEast Pastoral Institute (SEPI) in Miami and served as pastor of St. Dominic Church, Miami. He is currently associate professor of theology and director of the Institute for Hispanic/Latino Theology and Ministry at Barry University in Miami Shores.