Father James Moran, CSP, former vice president of the Paulist Fathers, dies

Saturday, August 7, 2010

A funeral Mass of Resurrection will be offered for Father James W. Moran, CSP, former vice president of the Paulist Fathers, on Wednesday, Aug. 11 at 10 a.m. at St. Paul the Apostle Church in New York City. A wake and viewing will take place at the church on Tuesday, Aug. 10 from 2-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m. Interment will take place Aug. 11 following the funeral in the Paulist section of St. Thomas the Apostle Cemetery in Oak Ridge, NJ.

Father Moran, a member of the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle for 52 years, died Aug. 7 after a long bout with cancer. He was 72.

It was definitely not a far stretch to imagine that the young Jim Moran – the son of Irish-born parents – would become a priest.

Father Moran grew up with the Paulist Fathers, who served his boyhood parish of Good Shepherd in New York City. The young boy was captivated by the priests he viewed as “men who were approachable, very funny and seemingly intelligent.”

The impression the Paulists made on their future brother was not lost as Father Moran first heard the call to the priesthood while attending All Hallows High School, an all-boys institution run by the Christian Brothers of Ireland located in the shadow of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

After graduation, Father Moran attended St. Peter’s, the Paulist junior college located in Baltimore, Md. At the time, he was primarily interested in the Paulist outreach to non-Catholics.

“It was intriguing and seemed important,” said Father Moran, who then entered the Paulist novitiate in 1957 and was ordained in 1964.

Then it was off to Rome to get his licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Pontifical Biblical Institute, part of Gregorian University.

He then served for two-and-a-half years as the associate pastor of the Paulist-run Church of Santa Susanna, the American parish in Rome. It was the fall of 1965, and the last session of Vatican II was taking place.

“I remember our weekly Sunday dinners when all of the council experts, bishops, Protestant observers would come,” he said with an easy smile. “It was quite an opportunity to meet and speak with them, and in general an amazing experience.”

Father Moran’s next assignment would take him to the University of Connecticut, where he served as campus minister from 1970-75. He then became director of novices at Mount Paul in Oak Ridge, N.J., from 1975-81. Then it was off to St. Patrick Church in Seattle, Wash., where Father Moran served from 1981-89.

He then became a member of the Paulist formation team, serving out of St. Paul’s College in Washington, D.C., from 1989-93. Father Moran then returned to campus ministry at the University of California – San Diego (La Hoya) from 1993-98 and at the University of California – Los Angeles from 1998-2002.

Father Moran then found himself back at Santa Susanna in Rome from 2002-03 before taking a sabbatical at the Paulist foundation in Tuscon, Ariz., and the Paulist-run Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem.

If the Paulist outreach to non-Catholics captivated Father Moran in his youth, the Paulist charism of reconciling the fallen-away faithful to the church would be his next calling. The Landings International – the Paulist ministry of reconciliation welcoming returning Catholics run out of the Paulist Center in Boston – was Father Moran’s ministry until he formally resigned due to illness in 2010.

“Being involved in the ministry of reconciliation was a wonderful gift to me and an opportunity to serve people who feel alienated from God and the church,” said Father Moran. “This ministry is being a part of people reclaiming their spirituality and reconnecting with the church.”

Father Moran continued his Landings ministry while serving as vice president of the Paulist Fathers from 2006-10.

After 42 years in the priesthood, Father Moran feels he has received more than he has given “both from the communities and the people I have worked with.”

“The diversity of people and experiences and places has enabled me to be part of the Paulist leadership team with a fairly wide acceptance of opinions and the different gifts people bring to the Paulists – whether they be lay people, people we are preaching to, working with or working for,” he said, noting that “hope is one of the greatest gifts the church gives. Out of suffering, we welcome life.”

Father Moran is survived by his brother, Maryknoll Father John Moran; his sister, Margaret Moran Burke; nieces and nephews; grand nieces and nephews; and the Paulist community.

In lieu of flowers, the Moran family has requested contributions to the Paulist Fathers Memorial Fund, 3015 Fourth Street NE, Washington, D.C., 20017 or 800-472-8547.