Ortonville-Rev. Gerard Frawley has landed.
From East Africa to England to the United States, the new pastor at St. Anne Parish has arrived in the village.
‘I am very happy to be here,? said Frawley, 67, a native of County Limerick, Ireland who entered the Pallottine order in 1961 and studied for the priesthood at the Pallottine House of Study in Thurles, Ireland.
‘This is a faith-filled, warm community that’s close-knit,? he said. ‘I was raised on an 85-acre dairy farm in rural Ireland and milked cows twice a day, until I left at about 20-years-old. The neighbors in the farm country worked in the fields as a community’cutting hay together during the summer months. There was a great sense of community at home’similar to what we have here in Ortonville.?
Frawley was ordained a priest on June 8, 1968 and began his ministry as a missionary, serving in parishes in the Diocese of Singida in Tanzania, East Africa, from 1968 to 1972.
‘I have a strong faith in God and to reach out to all people,? said Frawley. ‘In Africa, the people were very poor materially, but not spiritually’but we are all poor, too, in some ways’whether it’s poor in forgiveness or love.?
In 1972, he was transferred to England, where he ministered in two Pallotine-run parishes, St. Thomas More Parish in Barking, Essex and Our Lady of the Visitation Parish in Greenford, Middlesex.
In 1976, Frawley was assigned to a parish ministry in the United States where he served at Sacred Heart Parish in Ely, Nev., from 1976 to 1979, and St. Philip Parish in Idalou, Texas, from 1979 to 1985. He spent from 1985 to 1990 at St. Brendan Parish in Stephenville, in the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas.
He came to the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1990, serving as pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Wyandotte until 2000 and St. John the Evangelist Parish in Capac from 2000 to 2007.
‘I seek good relationships with other churches in the area,? he said. ‘We all worship the same God’with faith around the Sermon on the Mount and the resurrection.?
He was assigned pastor of St. Christopher Parish in Detroit and was appointed pastor of St. Anne Parish in Ortonville effective June 1.
Fr. Frawley currently is the superior of the Irish Pallottines in the United States, with offices in Wyandotte. He also has been a consultor to the Provincial Delegate for a number of years.
Fr. Frawley replaces Fr. Ron Richards, who was reassigned to St. Dunstan’s in Garden City.