Plan to continue to serve God’s people

CLIFTON  Last month, Bishop Serratelli granted retirement to four pastors, effective June 29. The retiring priests are Msgr. Robert Carroll of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Highland Lakes; Father Paul O’Donnell Duggan of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Pompton Plains; Msgr. Martin McDonnell of Good Shepherd Parish, Andover; and Father Frederick Walters of Holy Family Parish in Florham Park.

While the priests have officially retired from active ministry, all of them said they will continue to serve God’s people in the Paterson Diocese and beyond.

Msgr. Robert Carroll, a priest for 52 years, will be residing in the Diocese of Scranton, Pa. He has made a request to serve in the Pennsylvania diocese to assist local pastors and continue to celebrate Mass and hear confessions. He also hopes to volunteer at a local nursing home.

“I have some great memories serving the Paterson Diocese,” said Father Carroll, “Here, at Our Lady of Fatima, where I have served for 15 years, the people have been very warm and loving. I want to thank God and our Blessed Mother for all these years. It has been a very good experience and I have enjoyed being with the people.”

Msgr. Carroll, who was born in Jersey City and raised in Morristown, previously served in the city at St. Nicholas Parish in Passaic as pastor from 1986 and 1998. He also served at Our Lady Queen of Peace in Branchville; St. Rose of Lima, East Hanover; St. Brendan, Clifton; St. Gerard Majella, Paterson and St. Anthony, Hawthorne.

Named a monsignor in 1989 by St. Pope John Pail II, Msgr. Carroll also served as assistant director of the diocesan Religious Vocations Apostolate and a guidance counselor at the former Neumann Prep in Wayne. During his service in Passaic, he set up the Passaic Catholic Schools Endowment Trust to benefit needy city students.

At Our Lady of Fatima, Msgr. Carroll said he gained a greater love and devotion to the Blessed Mother. He learned more about Mary under the title of Our Lady of Fatima and began the “Celebrate Fatima” series that is now a fixture at the Sussex County parish.

With the 100th anniversary of the Blessed Mother’s appearances at Fatima coming next year, Msgr. Carroll will travel to Portugal for the celebration.

Father Paul O’Donnell Duggan is headed south to the Diocese of St. Augustine in Florida, where he plans on writing two books — an instruction book for priests and parents on First Communion and a humorous book that he is titling, “Ques­tions to Have for God and Others in Heaven.”

A native of County Donegal, Ireland, Father Duggan is the youngest of a family of 14 siblings, four of whom became priests. Father Duggan was ordained with his brother, Frank, by Pope Paul VI in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome in 1970. He then spent 10 years serving in New Zealand. When he came to the Paterson Diocese, his first assignment was at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Boonton after which he served at Our Lady of the Mountain, Long Valley; St. Gerard, Paterson, and Christ the King, New Vernon. He also taught theology at the former Bayley-Ellard High School, Madison, and was spiritual director of the Diocese’s Natural Family Planning Program. He became a U.S. citizen in 2000, the same year he was named administrator of St. Casmir Parish, Paterson. He was named administrator of Ss. Cyril and Methodius Parish in Clifton in 2001 and then pastor in 2006.

During his priesthood ministry, he told The Beacon that his six years of serving as pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish were some of his favorite and best years. “I grew up as a priest here,” he said. “There are so many moments I felt God’s presence here whether it was washing the people’s feet on Holy Thursday, hearing the people bellow the words ‘I do’ during the renewal of baptismal promises at the Easter Vigil or even the Confirmation interviews we have with the young people and their parents.”

One of his final projects at Our Lady of Good Counsel is putting together a DVD called “Successful Baptisms 101” with the help of some parishioners, which will be released in the upcoming months.

Msgr. Martin McDonnell will continue to serve in the Paterson Diocese in retirement. Residing in Hopatcong, he hopes to devote much of his time to helping the sick in hospital ministry and offering spiritual counseling for people in hospice. During the upcoming Christmas season, Father McDonnell will travel to Ireland to visit his brother, John, and his sister, Nuala.

“This decision is bittersweet for me because I love the people of Good Shepherd. They are a faith-filled and loving community,” said Msgr. McDonnell, who is a native of Dysart County, Roscommon, Ireland.

Ordained on June 8, 1968 at St. Patrick Seminary, Carlow, Ireland, Msgr. McDonnell’s first assignment was at St. Mary Parish, Denville. He then served at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Pompton Plains and then at Our Lady of Mercy, Whippany. In 1983, he became the founding pastor of St. Ann Parish in Parsippany and served there until 2009, when he became pastor of St. Anthony Parish, Hawthorne. Msgr. McDonnell has served on the priests’ personnel board; as a member of the Presbyteral Council and the College of Consultors; as dean of the Eastern Morris Deanery; supervisor of the deacon internship program; a member of the Family Life Counseling Plan; and a reflector for seminarians. In 2011, he was named pastor of Good Shepherd.

Msgr. McDonnell, who was named a monsignor in 1998 by St. Pope John Paul II, said he is “grateful to Bishop Serratelli for his continued support of me and for giving me the opportunity and privilege to serve the people of Good Shepherd these past five years. I have been a pastor for the past 34 years in three parishes and having served in six different parishes in all three counties and I have loved every moment of it. I love the priesthood and thank God everyday for my vocation.”

Father Fred Walters will also continue to serve the Paterson Diocese, residing at Holy Family Parish in Florham Park where he will assist Father Thomas Rekiel, the newly-named administrator of Holy Family.

Father Walters said, “The people here have been wonderful to me and I look at them as family. They have been with me through good times and bad times — just as family is there for family, I hope to be the same to them.”

Originally from the Diocese of Limerick in Ireland and ordained in 1987, Father Walters came to the Paterson Diocese in 1997 and served at St. Francis DeSales in the McAfee section of Vernon. Later, he was named pastor of Our Lady Queen of Peace in the Hewitt section of West Milford. One of his favorite memories of serving these parishes is being involved in the youth ministry and Antioch retreats. He has also attended several World Youth Days with young parishioners,

Coming from a large family with five boys and five girls, Father Walters has enjoyed presiding at many baptisms and weddings for his family.

“When I would visit Ireland and return back to New Jersey I would be sad but my mom told me, ‘You are blessed. New Jersey is your home. That is where your faith family is. Ireland is where you blood family is,’ ” said Father Walters.

In addition to continuing to serve at Holy Family, Father Walters will continue to assist in the formation of young seminarians. He said, “I have enjoyed assisting these young men to become priests. I have mentored three of them who are now great priests in our diocese — Father Adam Muda, Father Vidal Gonzales and Father Enrique Corona. It has been a joy to see them as seminarians and now all as pastors.”