When he became a priest in 1982, Father Patrick M. Carrion assumed he would serve in maybe five parishes in his lifetime.
He was wrong.
In his 27 years of priesthood, he has served 14 parishes – often called in to take over during transitions, such the clustering of parishes into one.
“I count myself as very fortunate, having had a diversity of ministries and parishes,” Father Carrion said. “Having so many different parishes, I got a chance to meet a lot of people.”
And he still socializes with many of them, from Edgewater to Westminster to Ellicott City, he said.
Now Father Carrion, 53, is taking over as pastor of the Catholic Community of South Baltimore, where he had been administrator since January 2008.
He said he hopes to build on the progress of other pastors at the three churches that comprise the parish: Holy Cross; St. Mary, Star of the Sea; and Our Lady of Good Counsel. Previous pastors, he said, had helped unite what had been three parishes into one and established ministries to serve neighborhoods with changing demographics.
Father Carrion will continue to serve as director of the Deacon Formation Program.
After being called on to help parishes in transition, he had served as interim pastoral administrator from 1992, when the archdiocese created the position, until 1998.
He was associate clergy personal director from 1998 to 2002 and clergy personnel director from 2002 to 2006. He has headed the deacon formation program for the archdiocese sine 1998.
A Baltimore native, Father Carrion attended Cardinal Gibbons High School, the University of Maryland Baltimore County, and St. Mary’s Seminary and University.
Father Carrion also writes a monthly column for The Priest, a publication of Our Sunday Visitor.