The Holy Ghost pastor presides at a Mass with priests and parishioners from near and far on hand
By Dan McWilliams
Father John Orr could not ask for more at the celebration of his 25th anniversary in the priesthood: a church full of current and former parishioners, his sister as well as priest friends from his seminary days and former assignments in attendance, and a papal blessing to top it off.
The pastor of Holy Ghost Parish in Knoxville marked his silver jubilee on the exact date of the anniversary, June 16, the day in 2001 when then-Bishop Joseph E. Kurtz ordained him and Father Brent Shelton to the priesthood at Sacred Heart Cathedral. An anniversary Mass in the church preceded a catered dinner in Henkel Hall at Holy Ghost.
Holy Ghost associate pastor Father Valentin Iurochkin concelebrated along with former pastor Father John Dowling, Father David Carter, Father Michael Raj Joseph, and newly ordained Father Daniel Cooper, who served his clinical pastoral education at Holy Ghost. The homilist was Father Patrick Nwokoye of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Mo., who attended seminary with Father Orr.
Genevieve Orr stands with her brother, Father John Orr, outside Holy Ghost Church after his Mass celebrating the 25th anniversary of his priestly ordination. (Photo Dan McWilliams)
“It was so great to celebrate my 25th anniversary at Holy Ghost with so many beloved parishioners from here and St. Mary’s-Athens and from all over,” Father Orr said. “It was just lovely. Father Carter was here, and Father Patrick Nwokoye was our preacher from the Springfield-Cape Diocese. We’ve known each other since the seminary. It was just a lovely thing. Father Dowling, our former pastor, was here.”
Father Dowling was pastor for Father Orr during the latter’s previous assignments as an associate pastor at Holy Ghost and at St. John Neumann in Farragut. Father Orr became a pastor for the first time at St. Therese Parish in Clinton in 2006. He later served as pastor of St. Mary in Athens, and his priestly assignments also include six years as chaplain at Knoxville Catholic High School.
Father Nwokoye and Father Orr have both earned doctorates.
“He was a doctor of philosophy before I was a doctor of philosophy, but I was a priest before he was a priest,” Father Orr said of his seminary friend at the dinner.
Now-Archbishop Kurtz and Bishop James V. Johnston Jr. of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo.—a son of Holy Ghost Parish—sent their congratulations to Father Orr, which he read to the capacity gathering of 152 in Henkel Hall.
Deacon Bob Hunt was deacon of the Word and Deacon Gordy Lowery of the host parish was deacon of the altar. Deacon Hicks Armor was master of ceremonies and attended along with Deacon Vic Landa. Seminarian Eli Holt proclaimed the first reading. The Holy Ghost Latin Mass Choir directed by Mary C. Weaver sang at the Mass.
The first reading was from Isaiah 61, which begins with “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” and continues, saying, “priests of the Lord” shall be acknowledged as “blessed.”
“My dear brother priests, brothers and sisters in Christ, your presence here this evening is a blessing and a testament to the enduring love of God, and your personal care for Father John Orr,” Father Nwokoye said as he began his homily. “Fa ther John, I call you blessed priest of God, who by your ministerial priesthood, you act in persona Christi capitis (in the person of Christ the Head).
“Thank you for your 25 years of ministry in the Diocese of Knoxville—this venerable local Church that you have called home for well more than three decades. Thank you for your ministry in parishes, in your high school, and the many lives that you have touched during these 25 years. Indeed, as we heard in the first reading, the Spirit of the Lord God is really upon you, so thank you.”
Father Nwokoye with those last two words led a hearty round of applause for Father Orr.
“In gathering for this holy Mass, today we celebrate the priesthood. We are not here to canonize Father John, at least not right now, but we gather to make an act of thanksgiving to the Father for the share that we have been given in the eternal priesthood of His Son,” Father Nwokoye said. “When you truly consider the priesthood, the grandeur of what we’re celebrating today, there is no doubt in my mind that we are all unlikely candidates for such high calling, but the Lord has called us.
“The Lord has called you to be His priest and to be His priest forever. Yours has and continues to be a transformative ministry, one of encounter whence the people of God discover the Gospel anew and open themselves up to the power of grace. Father John, thank you for your humility and unassuming way of allowing God to lead because, after all, He is the center and the reason for all that we do.”
Father Nwokoye referred to a message Pope Leo XIV gave to priests earlier in June.
“It wasn’t too long ago that Pope Leo, in his message to priests on the occasion of the day of prayer for the sanctification of priests, wrote: ‘The world greatly needs pastors who offer more than simple words or programs; the world needs living witnesses of a reconciled heart that exudes the sweet fragrance of Christ’s holiness. A priestly life is one that is steady and configured to Jesus’ heart, a heart that is a credible sign of unity, peace, and mercy. Thus, in an age marked with great division and fear, all of us pastors must be builders of peace and witnesses of the tenderness of the Good Shepherd who knows how to gather those who are scattered and heal the wounded.’”
Father Patrick Nwokoye presents Father John Orr with a blessing from Pope Leo XIV in honor of the Holy Ghost pastor’s 25th anniversary in the priesthood. (Photo Dan McWilliams)
Father Orr lives up to those words, Father Nwokoye said.
“That is the pastor, and you are a consummate pastor, a man with great love and care for his flock. Over the years, Father John, you have worked diligently to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd, paying attention to the forgotten, to the lowly, to the downcast, and all who are weighed down by life,” the homilist said.
Father Nwokoye said Father Orr is “incredibly attentive to the promptings of the Spirit and also to the teachings of the Church. There is a passage in the Vatican Council document, Presbyterorum Ordinis, that says that the priests ‘have as their primary duty the proclamation of the Gospel of God to all.’ But this proclamation indeed should seek to have man encounter Jesus, especially in the mystery of the Eucharist, the living heart of the Church and of priestly ministry.
“You have done this well, and you continue to do it with great reverence and devotion. The life of the priest is fervently and intentionally living a life of holiness, thus leading your flock to the High Priest in whom everything we do has its foundation.”
The Missouri priest referred to St. John Paul II’s book Gift and Mystery, released in 1996 on the 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination.
“In it, the great pontiff, who has been a source of inspiration for people like you and me, reminds all of us priests to love your priesthood, to be faithful to the end, to learn to see in your priesthood the Gospel treasure for which it is worth giving up everything,” Father Nwokoye said, adding:
“My prayer for you, of course, is that God will continue to sustain in you and create in you a greater awareness of the gift that you have received … I pray that the Blessed Mother, the Queen of the Clergy, the woman who has and continues to bless your priesthood, will intercede on your behalf so that in all things, goodness will reign supreme in your heart first, for what you have done and will do in the coming years, hopefully 60, 70 more years. We are eternally grateful.”
Father Nwokoye then quoted St. Norbert’s reflection on the priesthood: “O Priest, who are you? You are not yourself because you are of God. You are not of yourself because you are the servant and minister of Christ. You are not your own because you are the spouse of the Church. You are not yourself because you are the mediator between God and man. You are not from yourself because you are nothing. What, then, are you? Nothing and everything.”
As long as Father Orr “understands that everything comes from God, you will be OK,” Father Nwokoye continued. “Father John, I—along with your brother priests from Knoxville and the amazing people gathered here this evening to pray—thank you. We thank you for faithfully fulfilling the mission entrusted to you by Christ through your dear bishop, Bishop (Mark) Beckman. We pray that you be a joy-filled priest, which I know that you are already, that you will continue to find great delight in doing the will of God, the Father.
“May you find solace in knowing that the Lord God is always with you, and once again, we congratulate you for 25 years, for serving the Church and the people of God is not always easy, but I trust that, with God on your side and Our Lady interceding for you and the people of God praying for and supporting you at every moment, that all will be well with you.”
Father Patrick Nwokoye preaches the homily at Father John Orr’s anniversary Mass. (Photo Dan McWilliams)
Father Nwokoye also referred to the late Charles and Victoria Orr, parents of the silver-anniversary priest.
“Though they are not physically present here today, I believe they are with you as well because it is through their generosity that you are here as well, and so we remember them not only at this Mass but in gratitude for the love that they poured into you, that love that you so generously give to all who come into contact with you.
“And finally, to all of you people of God gathered here this evening, I ask of you to pray for Father John. Pray for him every day. Love him every moment. Pray that he continues to be the best priest that he can be, that he will continue to be the holy priest that God has called him to be, and I am sure that if he does that the way God intends for him to do, that at the end of it all, all of us will continue to sing the great hymn of glory to God in the kingdom of heaven, and until then, may God bless each and every one of you. May God grant Father John many, many more years in service of the Church and its people.”
The priests at Mass gave Father Orr an ovation after they processed out.
Genevieve Orr of Coral Gables, Fla., attended the 25th-anniversary Mass for her younger brother. Her voice broke with emotion as she talked of his ministry.
“It means a lot (being at the anniversary). He puts in 100 percent every day, every week, every month. He talks the talk, but he walks it, too,” she said.
Father Orr was born in Coral Gables and later lived in Coconut Grove, Fla. He and Genevieve Orr also have a brother who lives in Texas.
The Orrs’ parents attended Father Orr’s priestly ordination, as did Father Nwokoye.
“Our whole family was there, a really exciting moment,” Genevieve Orr said.
Father Orr said he “got all teary-eyed” when Father Nwokoye mentioned his parents during the homily.
The Holy Ghost pastor said the Catholic Church provides a little bonus for a jubilarian and his parishioners.
“The Church in the Manual for Indulgences gives a twofold plenary indulgence: one for the priest himself who celebrates his 25th, 50th, or whatever but then also for the faithful who join in. I published the indulgence and said, ‘If y’all come, you get a blessing, so we all got blessings tonight,’” he said, adding the last sentence in the exaggerated Southern accent he occasionally employs.
Having his sister at his anniversary “was wonderful,” Father Orr said.
“Twenty-five years ago today, we had dinner together at Calhoun’s on the River, and today we had lunch at Calhoun’s on the River, so it was like Old Home Week,” he said. “She came up from Florida, a 17-hour trip—the way they routed her plane, it was terrible, but she did it for the love of God and her baby brother.”
Father Orr greets a well-wisher after the liturgy. (Photo Dan McWilliams)
Orpha Brink coordinated the anniversary dinner, and Savelli’s Italian Restaurant catered it. A slide show featuring photos of Father Orr played during the meal, and more pictures of the honoree were on the tables.
Ms. Brink thanked her committee, which included Marie Ward, also the chair of the 100th-anniversary celebration of the current Holy Ghost Church; Jim Richmond; Phil Birge, wife Laurie, and daughter Mary; Mark Williamson; Mary Wilson, who along with her staff served the dinner; parish historian Pat Gang; and the Knights of Columbus.
In lieu of gifts for his anniversary, Father Orr asked that donations be made to support the renovation of the old Holy Ghost Church building next door into a parish life center. View architect renderings and make online donations at holyghostknoxville.org/new-parish-center.
At the dinner, Father Nwokoye presented a wrapped present to Father Orr.
“This is a $5 million gift,” he joked, “and it’s for the new building. For the rest of you, on your way out, please leave your credit card and we’ll return it back to you.”
The package did not contain money but instead a message from the Vatican.
“The Holy Father, Leo XIV, cordially imparts the requested apostolic blessing to Rev. John Arthur Orr on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of his priestly ordination,” Father Orr read aloud.
The Orr family has a collection of papal honors.
“It’s very beautiful to have the papal blessing. I have one from Pope Francis when he had the Year of Mercy—I had made the pilgrimage to Rome,” Father Orr said. “I have one from Pope Benedict when I was made pastor in Clinton. I never got one from John Paul II, but I did get one from John Paul II for my mother. I got another one for my grandmother, so between my sister’s bedroom and her guest room in the house it’s like a wall of papal blessings. Who needs wallpaper when you have papal blessings?”
The Holy Ghost pastor during the dinner also read a letter he received from Bishop Johnston, a former associate at the North Knoxville parish in his Diocese of Knoxville days: “I want to express my joy and thanksgiving as you celebrate your silver jubilee as a priest of Jesus Christ. I’m especially grateful for the years of priestly service you have given to the Church of Knoxville and to members of my own family. … I will join you in giving thanks to God and will remember you at the altar. Ad multos annos.”
Father Orr said Archbishop Kurtz contacted him on his anniversary day and assured the parish of his prayers for the event.
“I thanked him because he’s the one who made me a deacon and a priest and a pastor, and we even lived down the hall from each other for a while,” Father Orr said.
Genevieve Orr said that seeing Holy Ghost Church filled with priests and the faithful celebrating her brother’s milestone was “spectacular.”
“It was really outstanding, to feel that love from so many people and from so many parishes. Pride doesn’t even come close to how I feel,” she said.