Above: Priests attending the 2024 Chrism Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Sun photos l Chuck Wainwright
Diocese celebrates Priesthood Sunday
By: Eileen Jevis, staff writer
“We are always priests with all our soul and with all our heart. Being an ambassador of Christ … is a mission that penetrates our entire being.” (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Mar 20, 2019).
On September 29, Catholics across the United States will celebrate Priesthood Sunday — a day to show grateful appreciation to the priests who serve in our parishes, hospitals, colleges, armed forces, prisons and nursing homes. In our Diocese, 69 full-time active priests and approximately 20 retired priests live and share the teachings of Christ. As we celebrate our spiritual shepherds, we asked a few of them what brings them joy and what challenges them in their ministry.
Father John Manno, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Syracuse is also the director of Priest Personnel for the Diocese. He said that being a priest today is much different from the past where there may have been a pastor and one or two associates in each parish. Today, he explained, there is just one priest who is serving in two or more parishes or carrying out a diocesan assignment.
Priests attending the 2024 Chrism Mass at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Sun photos l Chuck Wainwright
“Much more is expected today than ever before,” he said. “It’s not unusual to work 10 to 12 hours a day. Even though much is expected of priests, there is incredible joy in ministry,” he said. “Being able to be with people and accompany them through sadness, joy, challenges, triumphs and tragedies and to be that presence of Christ and His Church is a powerful experience.”
Fr. Manno would like the Catholic congregation to remember that priests are human beings. They can be overtired, overwhelmed, experience sadness, anxiety, depression and worry.
“Priests are called to wear many hats,” he said. “It’s important for people to remember the humanity of a priest and the reality that they are not perfect, but they try their best.” He asks that people remember them in the charity of their prayers and continue to support them.
In his 23 years as a priest, Father Richard Prior has served parishes in Syracuse, East Syracuse, Cicero and now as pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Endicott and Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Vestal.
“The greatest blessings of my ministry are being able to celebrate the sacraments with the communities I have served and am currently serving,” Fr. Prior said. “I find tremendous joy and inspiration in seeing the power of God work in the lives of others.” The greatest challenge, however, is evangelization, he explained. He asks that the Catholic community pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life. “We need to grow or our future looks dim,” he said.
Father Joseph Scardella, pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Fulton and St. Stephen’s Church in Phoenix, has been a priest for 43 years. He began his ministry at Blessed Sacrament Church in Johnson City. He went on to serve as a part-time associate at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, and pastor at Our Lady of Pompei and St. Mary’s in Baldwinsville before being assigned to the Fulton area. Throughout his service, Fr. Scardella also led various departments in the Diocese.
“The joy I find in my ministry is through working with people in their everyday lives, having contact with them and helping them grow in their faith,” said Father Scardella, who now serves in the town where he grew up. “As an altar boy in the 1960s at Immaculate Conception in Fulton, Father William Brown would tell us, ‘One of you has to come back here and take my place.’ And that prophecy has been fulfilled.”
Father Scardella said one of the challenges he faces in his parishes is the diminishing number of young families. “Society is pulling younger people in so many different directions that faith isn’t a priority for them as it was when we were growing up,” he said. “We have to find a way to get young people involved in the church.”
Father Fred Mannara, pastor of Most Holy Rosary Church, said it’s the encouragement and support of the Catholic community that has fulfilled and fortified him for over 60 years as a priest. He uses his homilies to ‘meet people where they are’ and is grateful that Most Holy Rosary continues to be a healthy, vibrant and faith-filled community.
He asks our readers to encourage their pastor to be inclusive and welcoming and to follow Pope Francis’ lead. “The pope emphasized Synodality as a way for all of us to communicate, to listen and to welcome the ideas of others,” said Father Mannara.
In a letter to parish priests on May 2, 2024, Pope Francis said, “It is so obvious as to sound almost banal, but that does not make it less true: the Church could not go on without your dedication and your pastoral service. So, before all else, I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation for the generous work that you do each day, sowing seeds of the Gospel in every kind of soil.” (cf. Mk 4:1-25).
So, on Priesthood Sunday and every day, let us be inspired by Pope Francis’ message and express our gratitude and appreciation to the priests of the Syracuse Diocese who guide us, pray for us, educate and encourage us, and tend to our spiritual wellbeing.
