Pope John Paul honours three Antigonish Priests

            Bishop Raymond Lahey, Bishop of Antigonish, has announced that three veteran priests of the Diocese of Antigonish have been recognized by the Holy Father as Prelates of Honour, with the title of Monsignor. 

            The three priests are Rev. Robert Donnelly, Rev. Dr. John Hugh Gillis, and Rev. Conrad Girroir.  

            Monsignor Donnelly, a native of Scotland, was raised from an young age in the New Aberdeen area of Glace Bay, N.S.  His early education took place in St. John’s School, Glace Bay High School and St. Mary’s University.  He entered Holy Heart Seminary and was ordained to the priesthood June 24, 1934. 

            Monsignor Donnelly served in a number of parishes throughout the Diocese, including St. John the Baptist, New Aberdeen, St. Anne, Thorburn, Holy Rosary, Westmount, and St. Peter, Tracadie.  He was also a part-time Chaplain in the Naval Reserve of Canada from 1949 to 1967.  Although officially retired in 1977, Monsignor Donnelly continued to serve in a variety of parishes, both within the Diocese and in Newfoundland.  A true gentleman, Monsignor Donnelly was greatly loved by the people of his parishes and appreciated and respected by his fellow priests for his kindness and generosity to them over the years. 

            Monsignor Donnelly will celebrate a Jubilee of seventy years in the priesthood in June.  He is currently living in retirement in his home in Tracadie.

            Monsignor Gillis, born in MacKinnon’s Harbour, N.S., took his early schooling in Iona, Sydney and at St. Francis Xavier University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1930.  A year later, having been accepted as a seminarian for Antigonish Diocese, he was sent for studies at the Gregorian University in Rome, where he was ordained to the priesthood on Dec. 22, 1934.  While at the Gregorian, Monsignor Gillis earned the degrees of Bachelor of Canon Law and Licentiate in Theology.  He pursued further studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., earning Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Latin and Philosophy in 1938.  That same year he was appointed to the faculty of St. Francis Xavier University, where he spent his entire priestly life thereafter.  In 1994, St. F. X. awarded him the honourary degree of Doctor of Letters.

            Many, many students came under Monsignor Gillis’ influence in the classroom; and many were touched in their lives by his loving attention outside the classroom, as a counsellor, model and friend. It is not an exaggeration to say that there have been priests who have followed their vocation because of Monsignor Gillis’ care and love. He also rendered service to the Diocese as a translator from Latin to English, as an author not only of a Latin manual but of many pamphlets, articles and newspaper columns in which he explained elements of the Catholic faith in clear and concise terms.

            Monsignor Gillis will celebrate his seventieth jubilee as a priest this year.  Retired from active ministry, Monsignor Gillis remains in residence at St. F. X. University.

            Born in West Arichat, and currently living in retirement there, Monsignor Conrad Girroir spent all his years as a priest in one or other of the parishes of the Acadian area of Richmond County.  After his early schooling near home, and graduation from St. Francis Xavier University, Monsignor Girroir studied theology at Holy Heart Seminary in Halifax, where he was ordained on Dec. 22, 1945 by Bishop John T. McNally.

            Monsignor Girroir served in the parishes of St. Louis, Louisdale, St. Joseph, Petit de Grat, and Immaculate Conception, West Arichat, always striving to bring God’s word to his beloved Acadian people.  A man of wide interests and curiosity, embracing among others agriculture, geology and genealogy as well as theology, he continually promoted the education of his parishioners. His wonderful sense of history and his good humour endeared him to the people and priests of the Diocese.   He served as Dean of Richmond Deanery and as a member of the Diocesan Liturgical Commission, and continues to serve when called upon to assist in any way.

            The honour bestowed upon Monsignor Girroir seems particularly appropriate in this year when Congrès mondial acadien 2004, a gathering of Acadians from near and far, is being celebrated in Nova Scotia.