Petitioners hope grassroots effort will bring priest back to Jasper

Father Angelo Quadrini is returning to Jasper next week.

He will be staying at Cathedral Health Care Center; his home for over 20 years until recently when his order reassigned him to Boston, Mass.

However, if the staff at the former-Providence Health Care Center have their druthers, Fr. Angelo will hopefully be staying in Jasper much longer.

The current administrator, Beau Kellams, and staff at Cathedral Health Care Center launched a grassroots petition and social media campaign to persuade Fr. Malcom George Dyer and the church to allow Fr. Angelo to stay at Cathedral Health Care Center.

Fr. Dyer will be in Jasper with Fr. Angelo next week and Kellams plans on presenting him with a petition full of signatures supporting Angelo’s return before he leaves the area.

According to Kellams, Fr. Angelo has been sorely missed since he was assigned to Boston in December after Ide Management Group took over the former Providence Home from the order of Sons of Divine Providence. Fr. Angelo has been a member of the Sons of Divine Providence for 60 years, serving the last 50 as a priest.

Fr. Angelo is a native of Casalvieri, Italy, near Montecassino about 60 miles south of Rome. The slight lilt of his native language colors his well-spoken English. He served in England for about 30 years before being assigned to Jasper in 1995 to replace the aging administrator at Providence Home.

“I like Jasper very much,” Fr. Angelo said, “but when I arrived it was very cold. Very different from the temperate climate I was used to.”

Plus, he found the current administrator, Fr. Thad Sztuzcko, to be robust and able to continue in his duties despite being in his 80s. “He was very, very active,” Fr. Angelo said.

Fr. Thad continued in his duties until his death and then Fr. Angelo took over as superior and director of the religious community and of the facility. A position he maintained until being reassigned.

In Boston, Fr. Angelo is happy to fulfill his vow of obedience but has found that he isn’t as needed at the Boston facility. “I find myself still being useful in my old age,” Fr. Angelo, who is 80, said, “I am useful in Boston too, but not as needed as I was in Jasper. Here (Boston) there are five priests with their own jobs and I call myself the spare wheel. I help when I am needed but I don’t have a specific job to do.”

Fr. Angelo wants to return to Jasper where he feels he provides the most help. “I took my vows many years ago to obedience, chastity and poverty,” he said, “I am doing my obedience by being in Boston, but if I had my choice, I would rather be in Jasper serving. I feel more useful in Jasper.”

Fr. Angelo’s reassignment was sad news for everyone at Cathedral. “Numerous individuals at the facility are very upset about Father Angelo’s departure and desperately want him to return to the parish,” said Kellams.

According to Kellams, the residents have been coming to Fr. Angelo’s services for many years and now due to a shortage of priests, the services will be limited and many residents will no longer have the opportunity to worship as they once did.

The petition will hopefully change Fr. Dwyer’s mind. Kellams said he is hopeful if enough sign, it will happen.

And Fr. Angelo is looking forward to returning to a place where he knows he can be helpful. His duties are simple but important.

I am [sic] help other people when they have anxiety and worries,” Fr. Angelo said, “Counseling, comforting and providing these assurances in the name of God. I tell them to never lose hope. Father is kind. Father is graceful.”

To support their efforts you can leave a message on Cathedral Health Care Center’s Facebook page or on their website at www.cathedralhealthcarecenter.com. A petition is also available online and in the lobby at Cathedral Health Care, 520 W. 9th Street in Jasper.