St. Paul pastor Monsignor Morman to retire

NORWALK — This Father's Day, June 19, will have added significance for congregation members at St. Paul's Catholic Church, when Msgr. Kenneth Morman retires. Morman was ordained at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral in Toledo on May 26, 1973. He has spent 10 years at St. Paul, the last nine as pastor. "It's my first pastorate," the monsignor said, explaining that his priestly career has been highlighted by associate pastorates in many parishes and administration positions within the Diocese of Toledo. Morman said he has also spent many years in study and teaching, both in the Diocese and abroad. Retirement does not mean a necessarily slower pace. It's just a move away from the daily responsibilities of parish life, of which the monsignor said he no longer feels capable. "We're lucky in a parish this size to have a staff," Morman said, but noted, "What everyone tells me is that retired priests are busier when they're retired." Retired priests are typically called upon to temporarily substitute for other priests during times of vacation or other absence. Morman will continue living in Norwalk, he said, and will likely continue at St. Paul's in different capacities. "I enjoy St. Paul's," he said. "I enjoy the work." Morman said he began feeling the call to the priesthood at a very young age, in a family and time in which it seemed more "possible." Growing up, he said, three paternal uncles were priests and four paternal aunts were nuns. "I was probably 4 years old or so," the monsignor said. He recounted a Christmas celebration when his uncle, Fr. Richard Morman, arrived at his grandmother's house and gave him a toy gas station, a present he liked better than those had received at home. "That was better than anything Santa Claus gave me," he said. The boy questioned his mother later, asking how his uncle could bring presents for all the children in the family. She told him that being a priest, and having no children of his own, he could afford to do so. That example, Morman said, started him thinking of a life of service to God and his people. Later in life, while living in Minster, north of Dayton, family members helped him decide to attend Pontifical College Josephinum. At that time, he could declare his desire to work in any diocese. That option was not available at all seminaries then. "I date from the tar pits," Morman joked about his 49-year active career. After his ordination, Morman spent the next four years teaching sophomores at Tiffin Calvert High School, while serving as associate pastor at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, in Tiffin. During that time, he also served a special responsibility for the nearby parish of St. Pious X. After that, Morman served as secretary to Bishops John Donovan and James Hoffman, and associate pastor at Rosary Cathedral. While serving under Hoffman, the bishop asked him to seek further education, to allow him to teach in the diocese as an expert in one of several areas of theology. "For me, it was scripture," he said, adding that the assignment sent him to the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. That later earned him a specialized, advanced degree, heavy in foreign languages. As part of the challenging curriculum, he was required to study Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. Morman recounted an amusing story about his Greek instructor's emphasis on continual study. He said a friend had taped a note to his bathroom mirror, reading, "This is a waking moment. Why aren't you studying Greek?" Returning in 1985, the priest spent the next 12 years working out of the bishop's office, teaching what he had learned to lay persons and members of the diocese's permanent deaconate program. From 1997 to 2002, he was assigned as one of five or six priests assigned to six ethnic parishes on the East side of Toledo, before several Toledo Diocese churches were closed due to the lack of need for parishes of different nationalities and their corresponding languages. Those priests served approximately 10,000 East Toledo Catholics, he said. In 2002, Morman was assigned as chaplain at St. Thomas More University Parish, at Bowling Green State University. From there, in 2007, he served as dean of men and taught at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Cincinnati. In 2011, Morman was elevated to the office of monsignor, and in 2012, Bishop Leonard Blair assigned him to St. Paul as associate pastor. He later succeeded Fr. Frank Kehres as pastor. "So, for the last 10 years, I've been here," he said. Morman, smiling, said, "Being in a life where you are serving other people and doing it for the Lord; what could be better?"