“This was a very controversial move,” he says. “People had to look at the church in a different way.” In his role as shepherd, Fr. Casey used his best team-building skills and brought the people together to decide their future. “It just took them awhile to get accustomed to the idea of sharing ministries,” he says. Today the two parishes share administration and offer joint programs and they have considerably reduced the duplication of services.

Casey was assigned to Saint Brigid Parish in South Boston in 2000 and volunteered for the added assignment of administrator of nearby Gate of Heaven Parish in 2002. He was made pastor of Gate of Heaven in 2004.

With the declining number of priests, Fr. Casey says, “the future of parishes could be that two or three priests would be ministering in three or four parishes.”

The challenge of bringing two parishes together in South Boston was even greater than in Amesbury. Both parishes had schools of 200-300 students and the Gate of Heaven Parish was being recommended by some for closure in the recent reconfiguration and closing of parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston. Not only did Fr. Casey have to guide the collaboration between the two parishes, he had to ensure that Gate of Heaven would not close.

“People need to see that I care about them, that I am knowledgeable, and that I have experience. That’s why they rally around me.” And rally they did.

“We succeeded in saving Gate of Heaven by making a strong case,” he says. “The parish is 140 years old, the church is more than 100 years old, there are 300 children in the school, and more than 900 kids in various youth programs.”

With Gate of Heaven saved from closure, Fr. Casey, with many dedicated parishioners, succeeded this past February in raising $2.6 million in pledges in a major capital campaign to repair and restore the beautiful, but deteriorating church. He continues his work to bring about greater collaboration between the two parishes. The two now hold many liturgical services together, grades 6-8 of the two schools have been merged into one middle school, administrative offices and services have been combined, and the priests balance their time between parishes.

To Fr. Casey, he is doing God’s work. “With the gifts God has given me, I could not see myself in any position other than priest or pastor. My love for the church, God and my parishioners propels me to work for them.”

—B. L.

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