The following comes from a May 16 OC Catholic article:
The oldest priest in the Diocese of Orange, Monsignor Tony McGowan, marked his 102nd birthday earlier this week. Father Tony retired in 1986 as pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Church. Both his birthday and his 75 years as a priest were celebrated on May 16 at the 11 a.m. Mass at the parish.
Father Tony was born in Ireland, the second of 10 children. He wanted to be a missionary priest to Africa and Asia but instead responded to a call for priests to go to California in 1942. He worked at a number of parishes before being sent to Costa Mesa in 1960 to become the first pastor of a new church called St. John the Baptist. In 1976, he moved to Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in San Clemente and was its main pastor until he retired. He was designated as monsignor in 1981.
What made you proudest and happiest during your career?
I think that my greatest satisfaction as a priest was in the peace that I could bring through the sacrament of reconciliation. I recall with great joy my success in counseling young people facing the challenges of life, and my disappointment when I apparently was unable to adequately comfort them. I was trained in more theology than in psychology, and both are very important, but both need to be applied with love.
Did you ever think about how old you might become? What do you think about being 101 years old? Do you feel wiser than you did as a younger man?
Growing old isn’t any great accomplishment – all you need to do is not die!
No, I don’t think that many people grow wiser as they grow older, once they are past maturity and have experienced life to some extent. In fact, sometimes they become so set in their ways that they seem to grow less wise as the years go by. It’s my experience that some old people will argue with anything, even a sign post! They just don’t listen – or maybe they can’t hear any more. That’s certainly true in my case.
Now I’m not talking about any of my fellow residents at Del Obispo Terrace – they are all just grand, to me and to each other. I’m very happy there, but I don’t know why I’m still here on earth. I’m ready to go home.
What do you like best about being a priest?
I loved the pastoral mission – watching children grow in wisdom and the love of God, assisting them with the sacraments, counseling them and then blessing their marriage, baptizing their children, presiding at the funerals of their parents and then the next cycle of generations, celebrating their joys and sharing their sorrows. Being a priest is such a rich vocation! I’m too old to do much of that anymore, and I miss it very much.
Do you think the church has changed since you became a priest? How?
Oh yes, of course! No more Latin, different music, reversing the altar – those are the obvious things, but they don’t really mean much. The big change is in the involvement of the laity. In the old days they were expected to attend and that’s about it. Now they are expected to participate in all aspects of church life, and we are all much the richer for it. Take deacons for example – that probably grew out of necessity, the shortage of priestly vocations, but what a blessing to see the explosion of laity deaconate vocations!
If you could give one piece of advice to young priests, what would it be?
Don’t think that you are on a pedestal. You are a servant to others, not a judge or a leader. Love the people entrusted to your care, listen to them, comfort them, and above all, love them.
Q: “Do you think the church has changed since you became a priest? How?”
“Oh yes, of course! No more Latin, different music, reversing the altar – those are the obvious things, but they don’t really mean much.”
I beg to differ. Changing the Mass in such a radical fashion and abandoning traditional Church teaching and praxis has meant a great deal. The loss of faith in the last 50+ years is staggering. Those of the Vatican II era and mindset do not seem to understand the damage heterodoxy and the insistence on change for change’s sake has wrought upon the Church.
Clinton, you make some very valid points regarding the Interpretation and uncalled for by the Council many Changes that actually hurt the Church, and the proof is staggering. I was talking to a priest from Ireland just last Sunday who told me that only 15 % of registered Catholics go to Church on Sundays….
In His Diocese of Cork, only one man will be ordained a priest this summer…
Churches closing, and dioceses struggling financially to keep up with expenses.
So many folks have returned to paganism/hedonism.
And of course we have the same problems in the USA, Canada, and Western Europe.
God help us, we must pray and sacrifice and be willing to die if needed for the truths and morals of our beloved Faith.
We must pray that…
I beg to differ. I think the Monsignor is spot on. The Latin Mass is available for those who desire. What other traditional Church teaching has changed? The Monsignor has the greatest commandment down cold. He also recognizes and appreciates the fundamental contribution of the laity. Too bad he probably won’t live to 150.
You say the Latin Mass is available to those who desire. But the issue is the Latin Mass should have never been changed in such a radical way. Why do you think priestly vocations have declined so much in the last 50+ years? Why do Catholic theologians teach heresy and get away with it? Why do Catholic universities embrace homosexuality and false religions? As Father John Zuhlsdorf has pointed out frequently, our Catholic faith starts with the way we worship. You mess with that, and everything else suffers.
The good Monsignor doesn’t address your question about the decline in priestly vocations directly, but he hints at an answer: ” The big change is in the involvement of the laity. In the old days they were expected to attend and that’s about it. Now they are expected to participate in all aspects of church life, and we are all much the richer for it.” I think many people 60 years ago thought that being a priest was the only way to live a holy life. Now we have greater confidence that that is not true.
The scandals were a direct attack on the holy priesthood. Next the government will start attacking the Catholic Church even more vigorously, like the Philippine president-elect when pointing out the hypocrisy and corruption. This is why Christ’s shepherds must “Be perfect. therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:48 Father Hardon SJ said, “The ultimate goal is the direct attack on the belief in the Real Presence.” We need the leadership of holy priests who are courageous to speak the full truth. YFC is steadily working to erode the understanding of the holy priesthood and the necessary perception of the holiness of the priesthood.
Wow that’s quite an accusation!
I have seen the changes in the Church in the last fifty years or so. I agree with the Monsignor. There has not been one change in the faith that I can remember. The Bible hasn’t changed, the Church teachings haven’t changed. What has changed is the pray, pay and obey approach to parish life, and that has been for the better.
What! Some pastors still use the “pray, pay and obey approach”! Oh, plus, just sit in the pew and be quiet.
I beg to agree with Clinton and differ with Fr. McGown and mikem who enjoy the changes that have decimated the Church. The Church has been protestantized, looking much closer to Lutheranism and Episcopalianism than Roman Catholicism. Luther and the Episcopaleans were rightly so excommunicated because of implementing their heretical ideas. The V2 Church has done the same, leaving Roman Catholicism far away in its wake. The loss of the faith in hundreds of millions of once and could have been Roman Catholics is the saddest most devastating fact of all. Many are doomed. Our Lord said “You will know them by their fruit”. Their fruit is the loss of all those souls, counter to Jesus’s commands to His Apostles and disciples prior to His…
The loss of the faith in hundreds of millions of once and could have been Roman Catholics is the saddest most devastating fact of all. Many are doomed. Our Lord said “You will know them by their fruit”. The V2 Church’s fruit is the loss of all those souls, counter to Jesus’s commands to His Apostles and disciples prior to His Ascension into Heaven, “to go out and convert all Nations in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Sadly to many have been duped in following the V2 prelates and the modern heresies, that counter true Roman Catholic dogma, teachings, tradition, morals, and values.
“There has not been one change in the faith that I can remember.” -Bob O.
” Catholics must resist a perspective within the Church that seeks to undermine the truths of the Catholic faith regarding the indissolubility of marriage and the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. ” – Cardinal Burke
Well, there’s at least two things to consider about what has changed in the Church in the last 60 years.
Someone is right and someone is wrong. Must be that Burke fellow.
George, the indissolubility of marriage and the real presence in the Eucharist has not changed. They are basic teachings and truths of the Church. They have not changed and can’t.
But people aren’t being taught those things. Probably because they are too busy “participating”…
I do not know where you go to Church, but in my area, people are definitely being taught those things.
The Church has changed. There is no Hell and all go to Heaven.
Once heard a deacon in his sermon proclaim that there are 100 billion people in heaven. After Mass we asked the deacon where that 100 billion number came from. He replied that there have been close to 100 billion people that have lived on earth since creation and through the mercy of God most of them have gone to heaven. We asked him about the rough and narrow road to heaven and he basically ended the conversation and turned to the next person exiting the church door. Yup, the Church has changed!
Thank you for posting this story. What a wonderful priest! Monsignor McGowan’s perspective is certainly interesting…and with his longevity he knows what is important and of value: “Love the people entrusted to your care, listen to them, comfort them, and above all, love them.”
It is very often the OLDER priests who hate the TLM and Tradition no surprise here! If Vatican II was so groovy, why have churches, hospitals, schools, convents, and seminaries closed at record amounts since the wonderful council began?? Sorry Monsignor, but the “Springtime” is over and the TLM will become the Ordinary form once more.
1. Cardinal Ratzinger: We Have Not Published the Whole Third Secret of Fatima
https://www.onepeterfive.com/cardinal-ratzinger-not-published-whole-third-secret-fatima/
2. Pope Benedict denies latest rumors about Fatima Secret
https://www.catholicnews.com/services/englishnews/2016/pope-benedict-denies-latest-rumors-about-fatima-secret.cfm
3. Response to “On Fatima Story – Pope Benedict breaks silence.
https://www.onepeterfive.com/on-fatima-story-pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi-breaks-silence/
Janek, Something is definitely fishy!
Do you think the church has changed since you became a priest? How? Fr. McGown: “Oh yes, of course! No more Latin, different music, reversing the altar – those are the obvious things, but they don’t really mean much”.
Besides millions of souls losing their Catholic Faith and passing it down to their children, how about:
1) All the thousands of closed US seminaries, convents, hospitals, and schools?
2) World-wide loss in religious priestly and nun vocations?
3) World-wide loss in the genuine 7 Holy Sacraments?
4) Removal of our Lord, reverent tabernacles and altars from the sanctuaries?
5) Destruction of old altar missals, peoples missals, and old Catholic books?
6) Destruction of old beautiful masterpiece statues and stations…
There is no loss in the genuine 7 Holy Sacraments. What are you talking about?
3) World-wide loss in the genuine 7 Holy Sacraments?
4) Removal of our Lord, reverent tabernacles and altars from the sanctuaries?
5) Destruction of old altar missals, peoples missals, and old Catholic books?
6) Destruction of old beautiful masterpiece statues and stations of the Cross?
7) Destruction of the communion rails and confessionals?
8) Need I go on, or do you get the picture/message?
No Truths, or absolutes, no rules, no disciplines because “they really don’t mean much”! = Tragically, for our Church and for our country, that is the same sentiment of the majority of incarcerated individuals in the State Penitentiary. The State of California would probably like to completely remove the word Penitentiary because it sounds to much like the word penance for wrongdoing. Yes, we must love the sinner and hate the sin, but, if you remove, all of the love, that is included in vigorously upholding the fullness of truth, then you will receive the consequences that Tom so charitably listed above. —- “One, of the surest signs, of God’s displeasure with mankind, is to allow bad clergy.” — St. John Eudes
Just a few more awful things to add to the list above as a friendly reminder of what we have lost, for those that can remember, and to inform those who never knew it:
9) Many altars and statues were smashed and demolished for the novus ordo changes.
10) Many old churches were tore down claimed to be fire hazards and replaced with modern, sterile of religious icons party temples.
11) Many beautiful ornate stain glass windows that used to light up the churches with beautiful masterful art were smashed and destroyed.
12) Old ornate tabernacles, golden chalices and ciboriums “fit for a King” that use to enthrone and honor our Lord were found in bars and pawn shops. Only to be replaced by cheap hippy pottery.
11) Many beautiful ornate stain glass windows that used to light up the churches with beautiful masterful art were smashed and destroyed.
12) Old ornate tabernacles, golden chalices and ciboriums “fit for a King” that use to enthrone and honor our Lord were found in bars and pawn shops. Only to be replaced by cheap hippy pottery.
13) Pedophile priests.
14) The drastic loss in religious vocations: priests and nuns by the thousands
15) But the worst of all is the loss in the RC faith of millions of souls world-wide!
YFC,
You still have time to turn around, confess, and make amends before it is to late. Once your dead it is to late. It is better that a rope be tied about a deceiver’s neck with an anchor on it and he be thrown into the sea than to mislead naïve and innocent others into temptation and sin according to the Roman Catholic Douay-Rheims New Testament, the most accurate translation of them all!
Catherine,
Obviously St. John Eudes was very prophetic and holy!
For one to have any recollection of what the Roman Catholic Church was like, and what it was like to live and worship as a Roman Catholic before V2, one would have to be approximately or over 60 years old, otherwise for those younger, their only way of knowing what it was like would be as a parishioner living and worshipping in Roman Catholic tradition at a Roman Catholic parish that strictly adheres to tradition today. Since most practicing V2 members are under 60 years old, then most V2 members haven’t a clue as to the grandeur the ancient (pre V2) Roman Catholic Church was like from which their V2 faith was at one time extrapolated from.