A sign above Father Leo Connolly’s office has five letters, YCMIU. The acronym represents a saying that could describe much of his 45 years of priesthood: You Can’t Make It Up.
The priest’s vocation took turns and led him down paths unforeseen on June 13, 1981, when he was ordained in the sacrament of Holy Orders.
“You always have an idea of what the ministry is going to be like, what priesthood is going to be like, but in actuality, you can never fully anticipate what all is going to happen,” he reflected.
The Philadelphia native, who retired July 14, moved to Columbus after graduating from high school. His father’s job brought him to the Buckeye State, although Father Connolly didn’t spend much time in his new home.
He attended the Jesuit Regius University in Denver and then pursued the priesthood. Discerning his vocation, he was interested in being a priest of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) or for his diocese.
“One of the people in campus ministry, he suggested that I pursue the diocesan priesthood, thought that was more of my temperament,” he recalled. “That turned out to be a good recommendation, and I think that he was spot on.”
Father Connolly applied and was accepted by the Columbus diocese. Bishop Edward Herrmann, the then-bishop (1973-82), sent him to Catholic University in Washington.
“I never spent a whole year in Columbus until after I was ordained a priest,” Father Connolly recalled. “I’d be here in the summers or on breaks, but the first time I was here a whole year was my first year of priesthood.”
Shortly after ordination, he began service in a ministry that he described as unexpected. He started as a volunteer law enforcement chaplain at the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office with civilian personnel and sheriff’s deputies, continuing for the duration of his priesthood.
Father Connolly, who will turn 70 on July 28, plans to maintain the role in retirement.
“I’m glad that the bishop has allowed me, even after I retire, to continue in that ministry,” he said. “It’s not an official assignment, but it’s been a big part of my life.”
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The priest has long belonged to the International Catholic Conference of Police Chaplains.
He and two chaplains from central Ohio responded to New York Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center, in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
The national tragedy occurred on Tuesday, Sept. 11. The following Sunday, Father Connolly was dispatched to New York to minister to the Port Authority Police Department. The department serves the Port Authority, which builds, operates and maintains transportation and facilities in the northern New Jersey-New York region.
Many officers serving the Port Authority were killed. Father Connolly ministered to the civilian personnel and officers in the aftermath of the attacks.
“That was an experience beyond description,” Father Connolly said.
“I can remember, one day, when we had a few minutes of downtime, I was standing there, and I was looking across the Hudson River toward New Jersey, and I was sort of reflecting. I thought, ‘What’s everything going to look like 10 years, 20, 25 years down the line?’
“Now it is 25 years down the line, but the experience was unbelievable. It’s something that really puts you in touch with the vulnerability of humanity.”
Father Connolly also handled death notifications for the sheriff’s office. When an individual was killed in an accident, as chaplain, he would relay the news to first of kin.
He also served in the diocese’s marriage tribunal, which hears cases of marriage nullity; served in hospital ministry; and taught religion classes at Columbus Bishop Watterson and Portsmouth Notre Dame high schools.
“In diocesan priesthood, you have to become a jack of all trades,” he confessed. “You have to be an administrator, a pastor, a teacher.”
Father Connolly’s first assignment was as associate pastor at Hilliard St. Brendan the Navigator Church. He then served in Portsmouth, followed by Powell St. Joan of Arc (now combined with Columbus St. Peter).
His first pastorate was at Wellston Ss. Peter and Paul Church from 1989-93. He then served at Columbus St. Philip Church from 1993-2003. He was pastor of Zanesville St. Nicholas Church from 2003-09 and at Columbus St. Cecilia Church from 2009-21.
He spent the last five years as pastor at Pickerington St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish.
Being a pastor brought unique opportunities.
At the time of his pastorate in Zanesville, Zanesville St. Thomas Church, formerly belonging to the Dominican order of priests, and St. Nicholas each had a grade school. The two later combined to form Bishop Fenwick School.
Merging the parochial schools proved challenging.
“Zanesville is a unique place – and with a long history. St. Thomas was kind of the Irish Parish and St. Nicholas the German parish in its roots,” Father Connolly recalled. “So, it was not an easy task, but we got it done.”
The grade school feeds into Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans High School.
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Following his Zanesville assignment, Father Connolly returned to Columbus to serve at St. Cecilia, located in the city’s west side. The assignment came while the priest was undergoing surgery for a ruptured eardrum.
“The day I left St. Nicholas for this surgery, I left as the pastor of St. Nicholas, but when I was finished with the surgery, I was the pastor of St. Cecilia,” he said with a laugh.
The priestly vocation brought twists and turns. Amidst changes, celebrating the Church’s sacraments, especially the Eucharist and Confession, Father Connolly said he considers his greatest joy.
“The night before I was ordained, I couldn’t sleep,” he recalled. “The thing that caused the most anxiety is that the next day, after the ordination, people would stop calling you by your name, giving you the title, ‘father.’
“People who were probably old enough to be your grandparents would be coming to you and confessing their own vulnerability – and would I have the ability to say the right the thing and bring the healing for which they searched and really wanted it and needed.
“You become a part of people’s lives that you could never even anticipate.”