Msgr. John M. McCarthy

Posted

Msgr. John M. McCarthy, who served for 28 years as pastor and administrator of St. Patrick’s parish in the Richmondtown section of Staten Island, died June 12 at the Cardinal O’Connor Clergy Residence in the Bronx. He was 89.

Cardinal Dolan will offer the Funeral Mass at St. Patrick’s Church, Monday, June 24, at 10 a.m. Father Mark Vaillancourt, president/principal of Kennedy High School in Somers, will be the homilist.

Msgr. McCarthy served as pastor of St. Patrick’s from 1986 to 2007. He was senior priest administrator at the parish from 2010 until his retirement in 2014, and administrator, 2007-2010.

He also served as pastor of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini on Roosevelt Island, 1973-1986; temporary administrator of St. Joseph’s, Greenwich Village, 1973; and parochial vicar of St. Peter’s, Staten Island, 1954-1973.

Born in New York City, he studied for the priesthood at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, and was ordained in 1954. He was named a monsignor in 1990.

“He was what we call a real gentleman priest. He had a deep love for the faith and for the parish,” Father Vaillancourt told CNY.

Msgr. McCarthy “gave great leadership to his people,” said Father Vaillancourt, who served as a parochial vicar at St. Patrick’s, 2001-2004. “He always made himself available to them. He was a great teacher, and he had a great love for Church history, a great love for the Church and for his parishioners.

“He was always committed to improving the spiritual life of the people of his parish, and was always involved in the parish school and the education of the young.”

Except for the addition of a steeple, the exterior of St. Patrick’s Church remains very much as it appeared in the late 1800s. During the 1960s, in an attempt to give the building an ersatz “colonial” appearance, the church was painted white for a time. The interior had also been modified over the years, but Msgr. McCarthy made it a priority to restore the interior of the church to its original appearance as much as possible.

He returned the pews, which had been removed and replaced by individual chairs. He returned the great cross, removed from the church in the 1980s, to a prominent location suspended over the altar, and a new bronze tabernacle was installed.

“He was very interested in Catholic education,” Msgr. Jeffrey Conway, the current pastor of St. Patrick’s parish, said of Msgr. McCarthy in a statement. “He served in the early days of his priesthood under Msgr. (Joseph) Farrell and, through him, became involved in schools everywhere he went.”

Msgr. Conway also noted that Msgr. McCarthy “was a very good administrator; he loved children and he loved Staten Island. He spent 47 of his 60 active years of priesthood on the island and really loved being here. He was a person that everyone looked up to and respected because of his knowledge and his dedication to the priesthood.”

Msgr. McCarthy is survived by his brother, Michael McCarthy, and several cousins. Another brother, Father Robert P. McCarthy, a priest of the archdiocese, predeceased him.

Burial will be at St. Raymond’s Cemetery in the Bronx.

Msgr. John M. McCarthy