When Monsignor Joseph Findlan was born in Pittsburgh’s Garfield neighborhood, William Howard Taft was president, World War I was three years away and it would be nearly a decade before KDKA-AM would sign onto the airwaves.
This year the late Monsignor Findlan marked 75 years as a priest in the Church of Pittsburgh. At age 101, he was a few weeks older than his good friend, Father Thomas Nee, who died just after Easter. Msgr. Findlan was among the 94 retired clergy in the diocese when he passed away in August 2013.
Our Campaign for The Church Alive! will support retired and senior priests who have labored in the Lord’s vineyard by providing $5 million for their welfare and housing, including an expansion at Saint John Vianney Manor in Oakwood, a retirement home for priests where Msgr. Findlan lived from 1986 until recently moving to Marian Manor in Green Tree.
The largest ordination classes of the 1960s are now approaching retirement. Within the next decade, more than half of the clergy now active in the diocese will turn at least 70 years of age. Bishop David A. Zubik says they need and deserve our support.
“Our retired priests are so generous. We have an obligation to them, just as we have an obligation to all of our senior citizens. This campaign is one way to be able to show our retired priests how much we love them, how much we appreciate them, and how much we really need to thank them,” Bishop Zubik said.
The oldest of six children, Msgr. Findlan’s parents encouraged his vocation. He honored his father, who worked 38 years at Carnegie Steel Company, as “the best man I ever met.” Young Joseph also had many priests as role models, “good companions” he called them, and he followed their path to the priesthood.
Educated at Duquesne Prep, Duquesne University and St. Vincent Archabbey, Msgr. Findlan was ordained on June 12, 1938, then “loaned” by Bishop Hugh Boyle to serve at a parish in the Diocese of Harrisburg. Msgr. Findlan later was assigned to Saint Cyril of Alexandria in Pittsburgh’s Brighton neighborhood, Saint John the Baptist in Unity and eventually served as pastor of Saint Canice Parish in Knoxville for nearly two decades. His ministry also included an assignment as Secretary of Charities for the diocese.
His greatest joys as a priest were preaching, hearing confessions, visiting the sick, and spending time with grade school students. He was grateful for the Campaign, especially its focus on the New Evangelization.
“I think it’s very important to try to bring people back to the Church. Attendance at Sunday Mass in the U.S. is down to around 30 percent, and that’s terrible,” he said.
To young people struggling to learn and live their faith in the modern world, Msgr. Findlan said the teachings he learned nearly a century ago still apply.
“We’re all creatures of God and fortunate to be in the Church that the Lord himself established. It’s important to observe the teachings. He can make no mistake.”
