ALLEGANY, N.Y. — Sixty years ago on May 14, 1953, Monsignor Thomas Walsh was ordained to the priesthood at Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro. Just a few short years before, Monsignor Walsh didn't even know anything about North Carolina. But when his home diocese of Buffalo, N.Y., turned down his application due to an overflow of priests in the region at that time, he turned to Franciscan Father Thomas Plassman, president of St. Bonaventure College, for ideas.
Father Plassmann recommended North Carolina and told Monsignor Walsh he'd "give him a good reference."
Raleigh Bishop Vincent S. Waters accepted him and expected great things from the young man from the North. He was assigned to Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Newton Grove in eastern North Carolina, where he was given the directive to enforce desegregation in the little parish church.
"I was among the first priests who were asked to uphold desegregation in the Church," Monsignor Walsh recalls. "Bishop Waters wanted desegregation."
This was quite a challenge for the Yankee who was new to the social and cultural environment of the South. He was made a pastor very early in his priestly ministry and it was difficult to overcome the social behaviors of segregation ingrained in his parishioners, he remembers.
"For Yankees, the South was very different. There were lots of Catholics moving to the South. I had to get used to the native Catholics, the Southerners. They were very welcoming, wonderful people, though."
He remembers how difficult it was at first helping African-American and white parishioners feel comfortable sitting next to each other in the pews – something that they had not done up until that point.
"They used to sit, the blacks on one side of the aisle, the whites on the other. It took a while for them to feel comfortable sitting near each other. That was a very important experience in my life, very challenging," Monsignor Walsh says.
Over the course of six decades, Monsignor Walsh believes he served in more than 30 parishes all around North Carolina including Immaculate Conception Church in Durham, Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in High Point, Sacred Heart Church in Wadesboro, St. Eugene Church in Asheville, Holy Family Church in Clemmons and St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte.
His favorite parishes, he says, were the ones were in the North Carolina mountains.
"It's to me the most beautiful part of the state. I was very comfortable there."
His last assignment before retiring back up north to his hometown of Allegany was St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte.
"That was the most urban parish I ever served in," he says.
He has advice for seminarians and men discerning a call to the priesthood, especially if they are not from this diocese:
"Remember this is still very much a culture that is different from the North. Be open. Be accepting. Adjust to it. Be open to learning about another culture and be accepting of others. That is important."
Monsignor Walsh celebrated his 60th anniversary of ordination by going out to dinner with his family in Allegany on May 14.
Other jubilarians we congratulate this week are: Father Edward Sheridan, retired, 50 years; Father Morris Boyd, parochial vicar at St. Lawrence Basilica in Asheville, 35 years; Father Ken Whittington, pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Church in Morganton, 25 years; and Father Eric Kowalski, pastor of Our Lady of Grace in Greensboro, 20 years.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
GREENSBORO — It has been two decades since Father Eric Kowalski, pastor of Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro, was ordained to the priesthood in Newark, N.J., by then-Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick.
Over the course of the past 20 years, Father Kowalski has served the Diocese of Charlotte first as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Grace Church, then as pastor of Holy Angels Church in Mt. Airy, before returning to Our Lady of Grace Church as pastor last year.
He has greatly enjoyed "being present to people in their sacramental moments – when they are most open and ready to meet the Lord and to experience His healing presence and mercy through the sacraments of His Church."
Father Kowalski also enjoys preaching and offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in both the ordinary and extraordinary forms.
"The biggest lesson I learned over the past 20 years is how important it is to trust God – that as much as I would like to think I'm in charge, He's the one who really is in charge, and how much better my life is if I remember that, learn humility and patience, and then get out of His way and let Him use me to accomplish His Will in my life and in the lives of those with whom I am blessed to come into contact."
He offers advice to men discerning a call to the priesthood, reminding them to "always keep in mind that the vocation they have received, if it's truly a vocation to priesthood or religious life, is just that – a calling from God and as such it's between that person and God and will always be between them. It's a personal bond and connection. It's a vocation, not a career in the secular sense."
Father Kowalski notes that Pope Francis reiterated that same concept recently.
"If I had tried to 'plan' my priesthood as some do in the same way one would plan out their career path with a company, I would have missed out on so many blessings that God was trying to impart, and I wouldn't be where I am today."
"Has every experience been easy or convenient? No. But I believe each was necessary," Father Kowalski explains. "Don't worry about packing your luggage. Trust God enough to go where He wants and needs you to when He manifests His Will to you, and let Him worry about getting your luggage there. He has always gotten me there and given me everything I've needed, when I needed it."
Other priests celebrating jubilees are: Father John D. Hanic, pastor at St. John Baptist de la Salle in Wilkesboro, 30 years; and Father Vang Tran at St. James the Greater Church in Concord, 30 years.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter