Dearborn Heights priest never takes a day off, no plans to retire after 61 years on the job

'It's my life,' Monsignor James Moloney says

DEARBORN HEIGHTS, Mich. – There are no days off for Monsignor James Moloney because that's the way he wants it.

"It's my life," Moloney said.

Moloney has spent 61 years doing what he loves and as he approaches his 87th birthday, the word retirement remains out of his vocabulary.

"He definitely feels a duty to this," member Melissa Cragg said. "Every mass that he preaches and every sermon that he gives, it's from the heart."

Moloney was ordained a priest in 1956 and began his career as an associate pastor at St. Joan of Arc parish in St. Clair Shores. From 1963 until 1978 he completed missions in 58 different countries.

But for more than 30 years, home has been St. Anselm Church in Dearborn Heights. He was named pastor of the parish in 1978. 

Moloney has also been the director of the Archdiocese's Society for the Propagation of the Faith since 1963.

At nearly 87, he is the second-oldest priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit who is running a parish.

"I say six masses in six days, and there are five masses on the weekend," Moloney said. "I say a minimum of four masses on the weekend."

Even his cardiologist asks him how he does it.

"If you really work hard on your sermons and you like giving your sermons, you see it not as a chore, but as a great privilege," Moloney said.

"I never drank in my life, I never smoked a cigarette and I exercised madly, I played hockey until I was 65," Moloney said. "I'm like most old geezers, I take a nap in the afternoon and that gets me through."

Day in and day out, Moloney's love for the job is what keeps him going. The passion is evident to both new and longtime members of the church. Member Bryan Cragg said Moloney acts like a 30-year-old.

"He has probably been here for probably almost as long as I've been alive, and we all love him," Cragg said. "He's always here, he's always available, he's very hands on, knows everything that's going on." 

Member Brian Waokuski said that Moloney is dedicated and goes out of his way to help others.

"He is always here. The rectory is always open if you have an issue," Waokuski said.

Moloney has known his calling since he was in second grade. He still works hard to be good at his vocation. He reads the scriptures every day in Latin and says there is never a time you don't find something new in the scriptures.

"You're not born a preacher; you have to work at it, really," Moloney said.

Moloney loves saying mass. He said he has always found going to mass very appealing and that's why he says mass every day of the week.

The members of his parish come to hear him regularly and have great admiration for him.

"He is there to look out for your well-being just a wonderful man all around," Bryan Cragg said.

"You see him with the kids doing a little fist pumps.  He's always been very active in school and the kids are a big part of it, "Waokuski said.

"I hope he stays here forever," Melissa Cragg said.

Moloney thinks priesthood is a good vocation. He doesn't understand why more young men won't consider it. He said the Catholic Church will always be here.

"It may be a different church, it may be a smaller church, but it will endure," Moloney said.

As for slowing down, Moloney said he will keep going as long has his hockey legs hold out.

"People say, 'You're saying too many masses, you're doing too many things," Moloney said. "I'm born and bred for this, that's what it is."


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