Grew up in Forest Park's Holy Name Parish.
Bishop Norbert M. Dorsey, on his retirement as bishop of the diocese of Orlando, Fla., in 2004.
When Passionist priest Norbert Dorsey was installed as auxiliary bishop of Miami in 1986, his proud brother, Paul, asked if I would like to interview him. I was serving as editor of the Catholic Observer, then the bi-monthly paper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, and I knew of the Passionist as a promoter of the laity's role in the church.
In the 1960s, he had served as rector of the order's former monastery in West Springfield, and had organized courses for the laity in the teachings and theology of Vatican II. He was a priest whose global work in the name of Catholicism was rooted in Christian compassion and in his native Springfield.
I was sad to read of his death from cancer on Feb. 21 in Orlando, where he had served as bishop of that diocese prior to his retirement in 2004.
I was not surprised to read the summation of all the good he seems to have done in his 82 years, through his preaching, global travels and ministry. He apparently did much to address both the physical as well as spiritual needs of Florida's immigrant agricultural workers during his years as bishop. He also doubled the size of the Orlando diocese, to some 400,000 Catholics.
As a journalist, one often gets to briefly meet newsworthy, sometimes powerful, men and women. Sometimes, the interview impresses on one's conscience. It was that way for me with Dorsey.
I knew of his fluency in several languages and I knew his position in the Church would give him access to power, but it was his pastoral and humble nature that made me glad this was someone I crossed professional paths with and optimistic he would leave the world a better place.
A wake and Mass will be held for held for Dorsey on March 1 at Sacred Heart Church in Springfield. Viewing will begin at 10 a.m. with the Mass at 11 a.m. Burial will follow immediately at the Passionist Community section of Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Springfield.
I asked him if he would write a piece for the Observer, which he did and was published on March 26, 1986, shortly after his installation in Miami. In his essay, he noted he was baptized at Sacred Heart, but than his family moved to a house across the street from Holy Name Parish in Forest Park.
His brother Paul is now decease, as are his parents Leonard E. and Mary Ann (Dowd). His obituary notes he is "survived by his sister-in-law, Shirley L. Dorsey, of East Longmeadow, and niece, Gemma L. Dorsey, of Boston, along with Passionist Brother Augustine Lowe, his devoted brother in Christ."
Dorsey took the religious name of Norbert Mary on Aug, 15, 1949, in making his vows as a Passionist.
in 1976, while serving as an American delegate to the international General Chapter of the Passionists, Dorsey was elected assistant general of the Passionists worldwide, and re-elected in 1982.
Based in Rome, he evangelized on five continents during visits to most of the 52 countries where the Passionists are established, according to the diocesan obituary.
In the excerpt below from his Observer piece, he references what he saw on his travels as well as what led him there. His writing serves in his death as a tribute to his roots in Springfield as well as a reflection of what formed his vocation and his conscience.
He seemingly labored and accomplished what he did in the Church out of desire to be a compassionate and responsive presence to those he could help wherever he found himself in this life.
"Looking back, Holy Name Parish was probably about the most dynamic and involved local church for which one could ever hope. Besides a full cycle of liturgical and devotional services, every age group also had several options. . . Naturally these activities rounded out school and the civics that one learned not only in class, but by being part of both a local neighborhood and of the city of Springfield.
The libraries and museums were well known and used. The 'X' and Court Square really were social centers and Saturday shopping at the old Mohegan market on Bridge Street (the present Franciscan chapel) meant double-time for there you met an endless flow of relatives and acquaintances.
Almost by osmosis you learned the principle that people of different religions, national origins or race could not only be good neighbors, but even become friends.
One incidence among many stands out in particular from those growing up years. It was a Sunday evening in early December and I was . . . the altar boy assigned the incense at parish vespers.
I remember the priest beginning by asking us all to pray for our country as Pearl Harbor had just been bombed and then I remember becoming quiet confused. Between the verses of the psalms and benediction, I heard sobs and weeping coming from the front pews where sat the Sisters of St. Joseph, who served in the parish.
Later, the priest explained that a few of them had brothers and other relatives in service in Hawaii. It was only then that it dawned on me that my own father, on military assignment overseas, was also now in a war zone.
I raced home to see how my mother was. From then on, amid the separation of families and the death notices of those who were just a bit ahead of us in school, one learned quickly that there is a serious, underside to the world of our human family and that life itself is a precious gift.
I can never repay Cathedral High School enough for the excellent education it gave us, together with so many other maturing experiences...
In the summers I began work at 5:30 a.m, making doughnuts in a coffee shop after school . . Close to graduation time, I decided to enter the Passionist seminary. . . .
The Church of Springfield and the people and neighborhoods of the city gave me a set of values . . .
In recent years, my priestly ministry has brought me around the world several times. Whether it was in celebrating Mass with lepers in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, sharing poor housing in Peru or Indian, joining in ecumenical discussions in Sweden, listening to the black person's side of apartheid in South Africa, or just helping others to run from a tear-gas attack in a military take-over in Korea, those same values were again tempered and deepened. In a sense I was just passing on some of the life that I was given in Springfield, and receiving more in return...
It is with a great deal of humility that I now take up the state of auxiliary bishop of Miami . . .
The Church, my parents and the people of Springfield, gave me some priceless seeds of value many years ago: the Gospel of Jesus Christ, a sharing in His life, and a love of God's people . . .
I am a most grateful man.