Los Angeles, Calif., Jul 10, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Fifteen priests of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are marking 50 years of service to the Church and to the Catholic faithful. Eleven of these priests were members of the largest class ever to be ordained from St. John’s Seminary, located in Camarillo, Calif.
Thirty-one men were ordained from St. John’s in 1955. Of these, only three were for dioceses other than Los Angeles. Cardinal James Francis McIntyre, then-archbishop of Los Angeles, ordained 29 of these men April 27, 1955. Their ages ranged from 25 to 27.
Since then, many of the Los Angeles priests of the Class of ’55 have come and gone. Three of them became priests of the Diocese of Orange when it was created from Los Angeles in 1976. Fifteen have died and many others have retired from active ministry. Four priests from other dioceses, also ordained in 1955, were incardinated and are celebrating their golden jubilee as well.
L.A.’s diocesan newspaper, The Tidings, offered brief biographies of the golden jubilarians. Some of the highlights appear below.