65
Father Stephen Fitzhenry, OP
Father Stephen Fitzhenry, OP, 92, a member of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), came to Columbus in 2004 to serve as chaplain to the Dominican Sisters of St. Mary of the Springs (now the Dominican Sisters of Peace). In 2009, he became chaplain to the Mohun Health Care Center, located next to the sisters’ motherhouse in Columbus. He has been a resident of the center since 2014.
Born John Thomas Fitzhenry, he grew up in Cleveland and entered the Dominican novitiate in 1951. He was ordained a priest on June 5, 1958 at St. Dominic Church in Washington by Cardinal Amleto Cicognani, apostolic delegate to the United States. After spending a year at St. Dominic Priory in Youngstown, he became a missionary to Pakistan, where he remained for 20 years.
On his return to the United States, he served as novice master at St. Stephen Priory in Dover, Massachusetts; student master at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington; novice master at St. Gertrude’s Priory in Cincinnati; pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish in Charlottesville, Virginia; and director of continuing education for priests at St. Stephen Priory before coming to Columbus.
65
Father Edmund M. Hussey
Father Edmund M. Hussey, 90, is a resident of Mother Angeline McCrory Manor in Columbus. He is a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati who retired in 1998, moved to Columbus to be closer to family members and served for many years as weekend assistant at Columbus St. Agatha Church.
He was ordained on May 31, 1958 at Cincinnati St. Peter in Chains Cathedral by Cincinnati Archbishop Karl Alter and spent the first 11 years of his priesthood as associate pastor at several Cincinnati parishes and a teacher at Cincinnati Archbishop Elder High School.
Following three years of postgraduate study at Fordham University, he joined the faculty at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West in Norwood, where he was a teacher for 10 years. He also taught classes at the University of Dayton and other institutions, was archivist for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and wrote several books on the archdiocese’s history. He was pastor for nine years at Yellow Springs St. Paul Church and seven years at Springfield St. Raphael Church before his retirement.
50
Msgr. John K. Cody
Msgr. John K. Cody, 76, grew up in Columbus and was ordained by Auxiliary Bishop Nicholas Elko of Cincinnati on March 23, 1973 in Columbus Christ the King Church.
He has served as pastor at Columbus St. Ladislas, Columbus St. Mary Magdalene, Columbus St. Francis of Assisi and Columbus St. Christopher churches; associate pastor of Columbus St. Timothy, Columbus St. Agatha and Columbus Immaculate Conception churches; administrator of the Johnstown Church of the Ascension and Grove City Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church; was in residence at Immaculate Conception and Columbus Holy Family churches; and was a teacher at Columbus Bishop Watterson High School.
He served for nearly 30 years on the Diocesan Tribunal and retired as judicial vicar in July 2017. He also has been director, co-director and a consultant to the diocesan permanent diaconate program and was dean of the North Columbus Deanery, vicar forane overseeing the North Columbus Vicariate, director of the Teens Encounter Christ program and a member of several diocesan boards and commissioners.
He was named a monsignor by Pope St. John Paul II in 1992 and retired from active ministry on July 12, 2016.
50
Father Charles E. Cotton
Father Charles E. Cotton, 76, was ordained on May 26, 1973 at Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral by Cincinnati Archbishop Joseph Bernardin.
The Columbus native was pastor of Columbus St. Thomas the Apostle, Columbus St. Mary Magdalene and Columbus St. Elizabeth churches; an associate pastor of Zanesville St. Nicholas, Columbus Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal and Delaware St. Mary churches; a teacher at Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans High School; and chaplain at Mount Carmel Medical Center in Columbus.
He retired on July 12, 2016.
50
Father Lawrence L. Hummer
Father Lawrence L. Hummer, 76, originally from Cambridge, was ordained on Feb. 2, 1973 by Bishop Paulus Rusch of Innsbruck, Austria at the Collegium Canisianum in Innsbruck, where he was studying theology.
He was pastor of Chillicothe St. Mary Church for 20 years before retiring on July 14, 2020 and served as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy for nine years at bases at North Carolina, Florida and Scotland. He also was pastor of Millersburg St. Peter and Glenmont Sts. Peter and Paul churches; an associate pastor of Columbus St. Mary, Mother of God and Columbus St. Peter churches and the Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral; taught at Columbus Father Wehrle High School; and was a chaplain at Riverside Methodist and Grant hospitals in Columbus.
In addition, he was Scripture columnist for The Catholic Times for 26 years, covering time before and after his service with the Navy.
50
Father Edward L. Keck
Father Edward L. Keck, 76, of Newark, was ordained by Cincinnati Archbishop Joseph Bernardin in Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral on May 26, 1973.
He has been pastor of New Philadelphia Sacred Heart, Newcomerstown St. Francis De Sales and Zoar Holy Trinity churches; and associate pastor of Lancaster St. Mark Church and New Philadelphia Sacred Heart.
He also was a teacher at Lancaster Fisher Catholic High School, interim principal at Lancaster St. Mark School and a member of the Diocesan Priests’ Senate and the Diocesan Board of Consultors.
He retired on July 12, 2011 and lives in Canton.
40
Father Mark V. Ghiloni
Father Mark V. Ghiloni, 69, a Newark native, was ordained by Bishop James Griffin at Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral on June 11, 1983.
He has been pastor of the Crooksville Church of the Atonement, Portsmouth Holy Redeemer, Columbus St. Anthony and London St. Patrick churches and the Johnstown Church of the Ascension; administrator of the Perry County Consortium of Parishes; and associate pastor of Coshocton Sacred Heart Church and of the consortium when it included New Lexington St. Rose, Corning St. Bernard and the now-closed Murray City St. Philip Neri, New Straitsville St. Augustine and Shawnee St. Mary churches.
He also was a teacher and chaplain at Columbus St. Francis DeSales High School, with residency at Westerville St. Paul Church, and was a member of the Priests’ Senate and the Diocesan College of Consultors.
He retired in July 2021.
40
Father Kevin J. Kavanagh
Father Kevin J. Kavanagh, 66, of Columbus, pastor of Marysville Our Lady of Lourdes Church, was ordained on June 11, 1983 at Columbus St Joseph Cathedral by Bishop James Griffin.
He also has been pastor of Delaware St. Mary and Columbus Our Lady of Peace churches; associate pastor at Delaware St. Mary and Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral; and parochial vicar at Dublin St. Brigid of Kildare Church.
In addition, he served as director and associate director of the Diocesan Office of Liturgy and was a member of the Diocesan Tribunal and the Diocesan College of Consultors.
40
Father Charles F. Klinger
Father Charles F. Klinger, 80, is from Marietta and was ordained at Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral on June 11, 1983 by Bishop James Griffin.
He was pastor of Plain City St. Joseph, Zanesville St. Nicholas churches and Westerville St. Paul Church, where he spent 16 years; and associate pastor of Marion St. Mary and Hilliard St. Brendan the Navigator churches.
He also taught at the Pontifical College Josephinum, worked in the Diocesan Ecumenical Office and was a member of the Diocesan Tribunal and the Diocesan Personnel Board.
He retired on July 9, 2019.
40
Father Steven L. Krile
Father Steven L. Krile, 66, pastor of Logan St. John Church, grew up in Sugar Grove. Bishop James Griffin ordained him at Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral on June 11, 1983.
He has been pastor at Wellston Sts. Peter and Paul, Circleville St. Joseph, Millersburg St. Peter and Glenmont Sts. Peter and Paul churches; associate pastor at Newark St. Francis de Sales, Columbus St. Matthias and Reynoldsburg St. Pius X churches; a teacher at Newark Catholic High School; and chaplain at Columbus St. Francis DeSales High School.
25
Father William A. Hritsko
Father William A. Hritsko, 59, grew up in Akron and was ordained at Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral by Bishop James Griffin on May 30, 1998.
He serves as pastor of Buckeye Lake Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Heath St. Leonard churches and previously was pastor of Coshocton Sacred Heart Church, priest moderator of Newcomerstown St. Francis de Sales Church and associate pastor of Newark St. Francis de Sales and Westerville St. Paul churches.
25
Father Dylan James
Father Dylan James has served at the Pontifical College Josephinum since 2020. He is both a formator of students and a professor, teaching moral theology. He was ordained in 1998 and is a priest of the Diocese of Plymouth, England.
American by birth, he was raised in England and spent his summers with family in the United States. He was a pastor for 14 years, serving in Shaftesbury and West Moors, as well as being an associate pastor in Dartmouth, Poole, Exeter and Barnstaple in England.
For 13 of those years, he taught at St. John’s Seminary in Wonersh, England, and for five years he also gave formation to the Ordinariate (former priests of the Church of England who became Catholic).
25
Father Ramon Owera
Father Ramon Owera, 58, a native of the Philippines, is administrator of Columbus St. Dominic and Holy Rosary-St. John churches and has lived in Columbus since 2011.
He was ordained a priest of the congregation of the Sons of the Immaculate Conception by Archbishop Carmelo Morelos of Zamboanga in the Philippines on May 30, 1998 in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Zamboanga.
He served the Sons of the Immaculate Conception as a vocations director and in the formation of seminarians before coming to the United States to serve as a hospital administrator in St. Paul, Minnesota for two years. He then moved to Toronto, Canada, where he was a parochial vicar for four years before coming to Ohio.
He was a hospital chaplain in Columbus for five years, then became administrator of Columbus St. Elizabeth Church in 2016 when his order was assigned by Bishop Frederick Campbell to take pastoral care of its parishioners. He has served in his current position since 2019 and was incardinated, which is the formal acceptance by a local bishop into his diocese a priest from outside the diocese, into the Diocese of Columbus as a priest on June 1, 2022.
