Msgr. John T. Doherty

Msgr. John T. Doherty, who was pastor of two parishes in the northwest Bronx and a well-known community leader, died Jan. 1 at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Yonkers. He was 89.

He was pastor of St. Gabriel’s from 1982 until retiring in 1995, and before that he was pastor for 11 years of St. John’s, Kingsbridge. He also served as episcopal vicar of the Northwest Bronx for 15 years, and was active in community affairs and in ecumenical and interfaith relations.

Archbishop Dolan offered the Funeral Mass Jan. 5 at St. Gabriel’s Church. Deacon Donald M. Quigley, coordinator for retired priests, gave the homily.

In Msgr. Doherty’s avocation as a writer, he produced historical essays and vignettes about his own experiences and about the people and priests of the archdiocese. In the mid-1980s, he was one of the rotating authors of Catholic New York’s weekly “Taking A Turn” column. During the 2007-2008 bicentennial celebration of the archdiocese, he contributed monthly profiles to CNY on influential priests of the 1800s.

Earlier, he taught at Cardinal Hayes High School, the Bronx, 1946-1962, and served as archdiocesan director of vocations and as executive secretary of the liturgical and ecumenical commissions.

Among the recognitions he received over the years was the 1988 Interfaith Brotherhood Award of the Riverdale Jewish Community Council. His other activities included a successful 1979 effort to reverse a local movie theater’s decision to begin showing porn films.

Deacon Quigley, in his homily, called Msgr. Doherty’s ministry “a long and fruitful relationship with the Church in New York.”

In Msgr. Doherty’s 24 years in Kingsbridge and Riverdale, he said, he “became involved in so many of our lives as priest, pastor, confessor, ecumenical leader, neighborhood activist, leader and supporter of the Northwest Bronx community and Clergy Coalition.”

“His view of being a pastor to his parish extended beyond the walls of this church, and his ministry extended to all he would meet,” Deacon Quigley said.

Noting that the monsignor kept in touch with former parishioners via the Internet and stepped up the pace of his writing projects in retirement, Deacon Quigley said, “He found a new ministry…a ministry of story telling—telling the story of the Church the way he found it in 1945, telling us about the things he saw along the way, and telling us how we got to where we are today.”

Gerald M. Costello, who was editor in chief of CNY during Msgr. Doherty’s years as columnist, said Msgr. Doherty was “always so encouraging” to him and to then-editor Anne M. Buckley.

Msgr. Doherty had a personal style of writing that readers found engaging. “He wrote about things that he knew, and he wrote about them in a way that was very appealing,” Costello said.

“People really looked forward to his writing,” said Costello, “and as much as any reader, I looked forward to reading him too.”

In his columns, he commented in a folksy style on topics that ranged from political issues of the day to preaching tips for priests and deacons and the meaning of the word “home.”

“When you grew up as an Irish-American kid in the Bronx, there was one meaning for every new word you learned,” he wrote in 1984. “A ‘box’ was a ‘box;’ a ‘rose’ was a ‘rose’… But there was one exception to that rule. That exception was the word ‘home.’ ‘Home’ had two meanings. One meaning…was the apartment on the second floor on Willis Avenue. The other meaning was ‘Ireland.’ ”

Born in the Bronx, he was ordained in 1945 after studies at St. Joseph’s Seminary, Dunwoodie, and Cathedral College. He earned a master’s degree at Fordham University. He served for a year after ordination at Assumption parish, Tuckahoe; he was made a monsignor in 1962,

Burial was in Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Valhalla.