Father Donald McIlvane, R.I.P.

"HOF" in baseball and football lingo is shorthand for "Hall of Fame."  One of the HOF Pittsburgh priests died the other day, Father Donald McIlvane.  He was 88, and had been residing in the Vincentian Home.

Don was one of the "social justice activist" priests in our diocese who were motivated by the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).    Ordained in 1952, he served in the Hill District, East Liberty and Midland.  

But he was best known for his protests.  Against the Vietnam war, against segregation (including a brief but impactful march with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma, Alabama in 1965), against apartheid in South Africa, for civil rights, for the poor.  Peter Smith of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette does a nice job of summarizing Father McIlvane's life.  To be praised by Molly Rush and Father Jack O'Malley alone is enough to warrant HOF induction.  

When I was chaplain to the Sisters of Divine Providence and diocesan secretary for social concerns in the 199s, Don was my go-to guy for taking my place when I had to be out of town.  He enjoyed coming out to McCandless and saying Mass in the motherhouse chapel.  By then he had retired from active ministry, but not from helping another priest.  He was always gracious to me, and over time grew to love the sisters.  He even formally became one of their associates.  

Two things about Don struck me.  One was anger.  He seemed to radiate anger, a low-boil yet ever-present sense of the wrongness of how life was structured.  Some of this anger could truly be called "righteous," and probably motivated his activism and protests.  Some of this anger was directed at the church.  He had little good to say about the hierarchy (with the exception of Pope John XXIII) and was acute at pointing out the inconsistencies in policy and clerical privilege lots of us unfortunately took for granted.

Yet at the same time, Don was "a man of the church."  He remained a priest in good standing for 62 years, and as Father Jack O'Malley mentioned in his funeral sermon, Don was knowledgeable about the liturgy and liked to show the links between prayer and social justice work.  Bishop David Zubik's comment in the obituary captures this:  "Even when he challenged the church's practices and traditions, 'he did it in a way that was respected and respectful.'"  

Don spoke out for the poor, whether through he support for labor unions, increasing the minimum wage, or attacking racist hiring practices.  He also lived in a very simple manner, never putting on airs.  

May the Lord reward you for your unsung labors, Father McIlvane, and show you the promised land where justice overrules structural sin and love reigns in the hearts of all.