Leahy, Monsignor Patrick Joseph
MONSIGNOR PATRICK JOSEPH LEAHY
April 30, 2009
Personal Info
- Date of Birth: 6 October 1914
- Place of Birth in Ireland: Banard, Abbeyfeale
- County: Limerick
- Education: Mount Melleray, County Waterford, St Munchin’s, Limerick and All Hallows Seminary, Dublin
- Date of Ordination: 19 June 1938
- Place of Ordination: All Hallows College, Dublin
- Ordained by: Most Reverend Thomas Keough
Shortly after his ordination and prior to his immigration to the United States, Father Leahy organized and conducted a pilgrimage to Knock Shrine in Ireland. Nearly 500 people participated in devotions starting with the Way of the Cross, conducted by Father Leahy and assisted by Father P.J. Downey.
Diocesan Assignments
- Assistant – St Patrick’s, Parsons – 1938 to 1942
- Pastor – Sacred Heart, Fredonia – 1942 to 1945
- Pastor – St John the Evangelist, El Dorado – 1945 to 1950
- Pastor – St John the Evangelist, Hoisington – 1950 to 1965
- Chancery – Synodal judge of Diocesan Court – 1951 to 1957
- Chancery – Junior Clergy Examiner in Liturgy – 1952 to 1957
- Named to rank of Domestic Prelate with title of Monsignor – 1964
- Pastor – Mary, Queen of Peace, Ulysses – 1965 to 1966
- Pastor – Sacred Heart, Larned – 1966 to 1969
- Pastor – St Joseph, Offerle – 1969 to 1971
- Pastor – Immaculate Conception, Claflin – 1971 to 1980
- Pastor – St Mary, McCracken – 1980 to 1998
On 30 August 1938, Father Leahy arrived by train in Wichita and was met by a distant cousin, Dave Leahy, the undisputed head of the Irish Leahy clan in Kansas. Father sailed to America on “The Washington,” an American steamer and upon his arrival in New York, he visited Washington, Chicago, Kansas City and Leavenworth.
Father Leahy’s first appointment by the Most Rev. Bishop Schwertner was as assistant pastor to St Patrick’s Parish in Parsons, Kansas. This 24-year old newly ordained priest from Ireland took the place of Father Hartke, a Precious Blood Father, who had been on loan to the Wichita Diocese.
In 1950, Father Leahy gave a lecture entitled “Mixed Marriages” to a crowd of about 160 people at St Mary’s High School in Wichita. This lecture was the fourth in a series of discussions focused on the Sacrament of Matrimony given during Lent. Father stressed the challenges couples face when different religions are integrated into the same household whereas the added benefits that can be felt when both the husband and wife share the same religious experiences and beliefs.
