St. John Manor ensures priests are cared for in retirement

Msgr. John O'Donnell is the newest resident to join other retired priests living at St. John Manor in Little Rock.
Msgr. John O'Donnell is the newest resident to join other retired priests living at St. John Manor in Little Rock.

In 1946, a young Pennsylvanian from rural Montgomery County stepped off a train at Union Station, ready to start a new life at St. John Home Mission Seminary.
Today, now-Msgr. John O’Donnell has returned to St. John — both he and the seminary serving new roles. Msgr. O’Donnell is in retirement, and St. John Manor, as it’s now known, is the place where he and other hard-working clergy of the Little Rock Diocese spend their retirement. St. John Manor has nine modest apartments for clergy. The 20 or so other retired priests in the diocese have other housing arrangements.
“I’ve come full circle here,” Msgr. O’Donnell said.
Keeping St. John Manor operating is up to the diocesan Clergy Welfare Fund Inc., which also provides other retired clergy a housing allowance.
“It’s the least we can do for their years of service,” said Greg Wolfe, diocesan director of finance.

Support retired priests
Catholics can support the Clergy Welfare Fund through their donation to Catholic Arkansas Sharing Appeal, the annual diocesan fundraiser to support diocesan ministries and services offered to parishes, schools and individuals. This year’s goal is $1.35 million. To donate, pick up a pledge card at any parish, call (501) 664-0340 or visit www.dolr.org.

The gothic brick and limestone buildings that make up St. John Center — the administrative heart of the Diocese of Little Rock — were built in 1916 to house Little Rock College until its closure in 1929. The following year, St. John Home Mission Seminary opened its doors to scores of men, including Msgr. O’Donnell.
The campus has changed since that first day in 1946 when Msgr. O’Donnell arrived. New buildings sprang up and a grotto with the Blessed Mother disappeared. He and the other young seminarians worked, not only on their studies, but also on the campus.
“We buffed the floors,” he said. “We planted 5,000 pine trees here.” Many of those seedlings are among the 70-foot pines that shade the campus.
In his 60-year career at parishes around the diocese, including five years as an English teacher at Catholic High School in Little Rock, Msgr. O’Donnell has made quite an impression — bringing his spirited celebration of Mass and his exuberance to aid the growth of the Church in Arkansas. His last parish before retiring last summer was Immaculate Conception in Fort Smith.
“I’m doing fine and I’m well taken care of,” Msgr. O’Donnell said of his retirement at St. John Manor. “We are provided two meals a day — lunch and dinner. We’re comfortable and this place is nice. We can come and go as we please.”
Expenses for the retirement fund run about $750,000 a year, with $100,000 of that amount coming from the Catholic Arkansas Sharing Appeal, or CASA. Another significant contributor is the annual clergy retirement collection held diocese-wide each Christmas.
“We need that money as part of the ongoing funding,” Wolfe said. “It’s the obligation of the diocese to care for our priests.”
After 60 years of service, Msgr. O’Donnell has yet to slow down. Now freed from the administrative and financial responsibilities of keeping a parish going, he is enjoying a little more “spare” time. He enjoys visits to friends and family and even a trip to his family’s homeland in Ireland.
Still, his phone is rarely silent and on any given Sunday, Msgr. O’Donnell can be found filling in at parishes around the state.
“I’m still trying to retire,” he said with more than a hint of mischief. “Sixty years later I’m none the richer and none the smarter.”

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