Monsignor Thomas Cahalane, a Roman Catholic priest who has been a friend and father figure to many in Southern Arizona, attracted some 4,000 parishioners and fellow priests to a three-day celebration earlier this month at Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church.
The festivities โ including Irish step dancing and a champagne reception in the parish hall at 1800 S. Kolb Road โ gathered many of those whom Cahalane impacted during his 56 years as a Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson priest, serving 38 years as pastor at the east-side church.
On Sunday, June 30, Monsignor Tom โ as he is widely known โ will retire at the age of 80. He hopes to help out part time as pastor emeritus under the Rev. Arnold Aurillo, who begins as the churchโs pastor July 1. There are 3,100 registered families in the parish.
On June 7, Cahalane, an Ireland native, concelebrated Mass with Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger and fellow parish priests under the theme โGiving Praise and Thanksgiving to the Lord!โ
The church, which sits 900, was packed to standing room only and Cahalane began the homily by bringing laughter from those gathered.
โFirst of all, I want to thank you all for showing up to make sure that Iโm retiring,โ he said. โI thank Bishop Weisenburger for being here to make sure I do not change my mind.โ
During the service, he was presented with a papal blessing certificate from friend Jean Fedigan, executive director of Sister Jose Womenโs Center, which offers support to homeless women.
โWe have always felt his presence. He will continue his work here in retirement. We are so pleased that he has been a part of our lives, and us a part of his. We are enriched,โ Fedigan said in a later interview.
Cahalane reflected on his life, recalling that when he was ordained, Pope John XXIII had died a week earlier. Vatican Council II โ a spiritual renewal for the church and an effort to bring it into the modern world โ was at its midpoint and it was not known whether or not it would continue. John F. Kennedy was president.
โAs I look back, it was a time of great hope and promise,โ said Cahalane, thanking God for โmy family of origin and my faith family. I have and I continue to encounter Godโs amazing grace and presence in both.โ
From Ireland to Tucson
Cahalaneโs parents reared six children on a farm in County Cork, Ireland. โI can still hear the echo of my fatherโs voice across the years leading the evening family rosary,โ Cahalane said, also recalling the prayers from his mother. โI feel this family prayer environment was the seedbed of my call to the priesthood.โ
In high school, Cahalane received a letter from his cousin, a priest in the Tucson diocese, who suggested he think about also becoming a diocesan priest. Cahalane did and after his ordination on June 8, 1963, he arrived two months later in Tucson at age 24, remembering it was the day the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his โI Have a Dreamโ speech during a civil rights rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
He went to work as associate pastor at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Scottsdale, which was then part of the Tucson diocese. He served in the tri-community of San Manuel, Oracle and Mammoth; was associate pastor at St. Augustine Cathedral; and also was in charge of the diocesan youth ministry.
Cahalane received a masterโs degree in education from the University of Arizona in 1975 and served as the diocesan vicar of education for eight years.
He served under four bishops, learning from each one.
He said Bishop Francis J. Green was โa father at the Second Vatican Council and he promoted changes that came out of that historic event in the life of the church.โ
Bishop Manuel D. Moreno โhad a very humble pastoral style of episcopal leadership.โ
Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas โwas very collegial and collaborative in his approach to ministerial leadership.โ
And Weisenburger, the current bishop who was 2 years old when Cahalane was ordained, โbrings strong administrative gifts to leading our diocese.โ
Church sex abuse scandal was a โlow pointโ
He said among the high points in his career were:
Establishing the Alienated Catholics Anonymous program in the 1980s, a process for welcoming those feeling isolated or estranged back to the active practice of faith. The program gained national attention through articles by the late sociologist, author and syndicated columnist the Rev. Andrew M. Greeley.
Developing a collaborative shared ministry approach with parishioners โby reaching out to those in the margins,โ including volunteering in social outreach programs such as the Sister Jose Womenโs Center and the Casa Maria Soup Kitchen, which provides meals to those in need.
Among the low points, he said, were:
โThe (sexual) abuse crisis has been a very painful, hurting and damaging experience in the community of the church. It has been a deep wound and the violation of a most sacred trust,โ said Cahalane.
โThose who have been victimized have been the most trusting and vulnerable among us. The church needs to embrace them and ask for their forgiveness, and listen always to the story of their woundedness,โ he said.
โIf the โsafe environmentโ protocols that are now in place in our parishes were in place 30, 40, 50 years ago, we would forestall dealing with the disastrous consequences of the abuse crisis.โ
The dioceseโs scars include a $14 million settlement in 2002 with 10 men who described clergy abuse in the 1960s through 1980s and 22 lawsuits that drove the diocese to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2004 and create a $22 million settlement pool, according to Arizona Daily Star archives.
โDuring these 56 years of great blessings, despite some challenging years during the abuse crisis, I can honestly say that I have loved being a priest. Not that every day has been totally joyful. At various times Iโve been pained, grief-filled, disappointed, angry and embarrassed.
โBut whenever I conducted a baptism, presided at Mass, celebrated Christโs mercy in confession, witnessed a marriage, anointed the sick and prayed with the dying, buried the dead, received or welcomed someone home to the church, or preached, taught or wrote about the faith, I know I was in the right place; doing the right thing.โ
Learning from parishioners
He said as a parish priest he also learned through parishioners and others about ministering to and with people.
Mary Babicke, a mother to four sons, has been a member of the parish since she was young girl and attended school there. She said she will never forget when her father suffered a heart attack in 2009 and she called Cahalane in the โwee hours of that morning, and he came to the hospital right away.โ Days later, he gave her father last rites before he died.
Babicke said when one of her sons decided to go to West Point, Cahalane held a special prayer service for her sonโs protection. It brought the mother a โsense of calmness and peace.โ This peace has extended to her family, she said, when undergoing โsurgeries, fertility struggles, funerals and countless other times of pain and sorrow.โ
Fedigan was an alienated Catholic who returned to the church 20 years ago through Cahalaneโs program in which โhe made us feel welcomed and engaged us in living our Catholic faith. He has been our champion and miracle person. He always has been very supportive.โ
Cahalane works with Fedigan at the womenโs center. He sits on the centerโs board of directors and also serves as the chaplain.
In retirement, Cahalane plans to travel first to Ireland and visit his sister and brother on the familyโs farm, which sits on green fertile land.
โI sleep in the room where I was born when I go home. The house is more than 100 years old.โ
