‘A Giant of a Priest’

I don’t get a chance to attend too many priest funerals. Most, of course, are held during the workweek, and many are far from our offices in the New York Catholic Center in Manhattan.

When Msgr. James Dorney died Oct. 26, his Funeral Mass celebrated by Cardinal Dolan was scheduled on a Saturday morning in St. Peter’s Church on Staten Island, where he served as pastor for 27 years until his retirement in 2013. Actually, he never stopped serving at St. Peter’s, the borough’s mother church, where he was administrator for three years before becoming pastor. Even after retirement, he continued to celebrate the 7 a.m. Mass at the church in the New Brighton section.

I showed up early for the funeral, unsure of what the parking conditions would be. Police officers were out front directing traffic and eventually I found a spot on Richmond Terrace, a short walk from the back steps of the church. Funny thing is, coming up that way I had a memory of Msgr. Dorney from another Funeral Mass years ago for Julia Martin, a former reporter at Catholic New York. I don’t think Msgr. Dorney was the celebrant that day but I do remember him coming down the back steps after Mass. Julia, who worked for many years on the religion beat at the Staten Island Advance, was a big fan of Msgr. Dorney’s.

I arrived inside more than 45 minutes before the 10 a.m. funeral was due to begin. Many people were already in place. Some were part of official delegations from the parish school and high school. As I sat there, I could hear snatches of small conversations all around me, everyone sharing a memory of Msgr. Dorney. I jotted a few notes on the back of the Mass program. One person spoke about how unexpected his passing was, and that he had seen Msgr. Dorney just the previous Saturday. Someone else said it was like losing a member of the family. A third person said that Msgr. Dorney never said no and that he left quite a legacy for others to follow.

There were other mini-reflections, like the one of the Daughter of St. Paul nun sitting next to me who spoke fondly about his homilies at the aforementioned 7 a.m. Mass. They were simple, short and direct, she said, indicating that his form was fine by her.

I’d be the first to tell you I didn’t know Msgr. Dorney all that well. Still, I had a lot of respect for his perseverance, and the joy he exuded each day. He was always glad to see you.

Like a lot of people who knew Msgr. Dorney over the last part of his life, I knew him as Mr. Staten Island, because of his roles as co-vicar and then co-dean there, along with Msgr. Peter Finn, and because of his long service at St. Peter’s, which is now St. Peter’s-Assumption and St. Paul’s parish.

The rest of his story was filled in during the homily by Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan of Camden, N.J., who served as a priest and an auxiliary bishop in the archdiocese. His reflection was one of the best tributes to a priest I have ever heard. Their priestly service intersected for a few years at St. Elizabeth’s parish in Washington Heights in the 1970s, and as Bishop Sullivan recalled, “He taught me how to be a priest.”

Msgr. Dorney’s priesthood, 57 years in all, also extended to Our Saviour parish in the Bronx, St. Agnes in Manhattan and St. Paul’s in Congers, before he arrived at St. Margaret Mary on Staten Island in 1976. It wasn’t just the places, but how he “connected” with the people and the communities he served, the bishop said.

Noting Msgr. Dorney’s small stature, which dipped a bit more with each passing year, Bishop Sullivan said it was not nearly the full measure of the man.

“Physically, as he grew shorter and shorter, he grew taller and taller as a priest of Jesus Christ. He was a giant of a priest.”