Rev. Thomas Malloy, O.S.F.S.
When Father Tom Malloy accepted the call to become pastor of Saint Ann Catholic Church, the parish had had six pastors in 11 years. "They wanted stability," he recalled. "I told them, I may not be that stable, but I plan on staying for a while."
He chose to come to this for this reason and because he wanted to serve a parish that was small and multi-cultural. When he arrived in July 2001, he found the congregation in the midst of a building fund campaign.
"Most of the work was already done, but we hadn’t started construction," he said. The project more than doubled the sanctuary worship space. It also included a gathering space connecting the sanctuary to the social hall.
"I can brag about it, without worrying about criticism, because I had nothing to with coming up with the design," he joked.
Father Tom is a member of the Oblates of St. Francis De Sales, a religious order dedicated to communicating the spirituality of the 17th century priest and bishop. "The chrism of the Oblates is to ‘live Jesus’ according to the spirituality developed by St. Francis De Sales," Father Tom said. St. Francis de Sales summed up his vision of the spiritual life in the simple words of Jesus, "Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart."
Father Tom’s driving interest at Saint Ann is the empowerment of the laity.
Born Sept. 14, 1939 in Philadelphia, he joined the Oblates right after graduation from Philadelphia’s Northeast Catholic High School, a school administered by the order. He earned a bachelor’s degree in English, with a minor in philosophy from Niagara College, New York. Later, he earned a master degree in English from Niagara and a master’s degree in theatre from Villanova University, Pa.
He completed his divinity training at the DeSales Hall School of Theology, Washington D.C. and in 1967 was ordained a Catholic priest.
Father Tom has taught various subjects and directed theater productions in high school. He has been involved in retreat ministry at the Oblate Retreat Center in Childs, Md. and has done extensive work in the Matt Talbot Retreats for recovering alcoholics and Isaiah Parish Missions.
"The Isaiah missions are essential revivals for Catholic churches," he noted.
Father Tom has also ministered in parishes as associate pastor and pastor in parishes in Virginian and Pennsylvania.
Father has written three planning calendars entitled "A Year of Sundays" with contain reflections on the scripture readings for each Sunday of the year. The reflections are based on a series of letters he wrote to his congregation as pastor.
"The letters began as my effort to communicate with the parish as its pastor," he said. I wanted to let the people know what was going on in the parish, and sometimes, in my mind."
He completed the last book just after coming to Saint Ann. Re-reading the book has been an interesting experience, he said. "They were originally letters from a pastor to his parish," he said. "Re-reading some of these essays, in a new pastoral setting, was an interesting exercise in measuring my own peregrinations through life."
After serving for some many years in retreat ministry, Father Tom is grateful to be once again serving in a parish. He said he intends to remain at Saint Ann "for the foreseeable future."
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