Father Roderick Bernard MacDonald
Rev. Roderick Bernard ‘R.B.’ MacDonald, age 86, passed away on October 27, 2018, in Green Meadows Community Residence for Seniors, North Grant, Antigonish County. Born on January 10, 1932, in Sydney, Nova Scotia, he was the son of Angus Charles and Mary (MacIntyre) MacDonald. Fr. R.B. served the diocese of Antigonish for more than six decades. Ordained in Rome on December 21, 1955, he served in parishes in Sydney and Antigonish but his primary service was as Professor of Theology and later Dean of Arts at St. Francis Xavier University. He also served on the Board of Governors and the Senate of the university. He trained as a scripture scholar and was a noted homilist, but his interests were broad and varied. He was an avid collector of books and stamps, a photographer, a creative knitter, and a tenacious researcher of the history of the diocese of Antigonish and the writings of John Henry Newman. Fr. R.B. graduated from St. Francis Xavier University in 1952, obtained a doctorate in sacred theology from the Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide, Rome in 1958, and a licentiate in sacred scripture from Institutum Biblicum, Rome in 1966. He is survived by his sisters, Marie (late Anthony) Cipriani, Milford, Massachusetts and Lorraine MacDonald, Sydney; brother, John H. (Anne) MacDonald, New Glasgow; nieces, Karen (Herbert) Cares, Mary MacDonald (David McGreer), and Carmel (Ken) Scott; nephew, Paul (Marilyn) MacDonald, and their respective families. Besides his parents, brothers, Alan, and Angus and nephew, Andrew, predeceased him. Visitation will be held at Morrison Hall, St. Francis Xavier University, on Tuesday, October 30, from 2 to 4 p.m. with Bible Vigil at St. Ninian’s Cathedral at 7 p.m. Funeral Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Brian Dunn at St. Ninian’s Cathedral on Wednesday, October 31, 2018, at 11 a.m. Burial in the parish cemetery.