Father Diehl’s ministry ranged from Howard County parish to papal visit commentary

Father Dennis Diehl, a Cumberland native who lent his communications and liturgical expertise to coverage of St. John Paul II’s 1995 visit to Baltimore and then led St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Fulton through two decades of growth, died Oct. 9, at age 71, at Mercy Ridge in Timonium.

“What always struck me about Father Diehl was his humble nature,” said John Rhode, a parishioner of the Howard County parish where Father Diehl served as pastor from 1996 until his retirement in 2018. “It was always about others, yet he  had an amazing ability to pull people together and get a lot accomplished when things seemed difficult or quite challenging.”

Dennis Paul Diehl was born Oct. 13, 1947, in Cumberland, the son of a plant manager for a tire manufacturer and a homemaker who worshiped at St. Patrick Parish. 

According to an obituary provided by the Archdiocese of Baltimore, his older sister, Lynda Fogel, recalls him modeling the Eucharist and giving Necco wafers to her dolls when he was 5 years old. Monsignor Arthur Bastress, who died earlier this year, was among the priests for whom Father Diehl was an altar server. An Eagle Scout, he received the Ad Altare Dei award. An article in the Cumberland Evening Times in December 1964 describes the Diehls enjoying a father-and-son night with fellow members of the Order of the Arrow.

Father Diehl attended the parish school, and the former La Salle High School in Cumberland. He earned a degree in philosophy from Resurrection College Seminary in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, and a degree in theology from St. Mary’s Seminary in Roland Park. He served his transitional diaconate year at St. Joseph Parish in Fullerton, and was ordained to the priesthood for the archdiocese in May 1974 by auxiliary Bishop F. Joseph Gossman, at St. Patrick. 

Prior to his ordination, Father Diehl told the Catholic Review he was attracted to the priesthood as a way of working with people.

“I can, in a limited way, help people with their physical needs,” he said, “but above and beyond that, I want to help them find themselves and their relationship with their God.”

After serving as an associate pastor of Our Lady of Victory in Arbutus for one year, Father Diehl went to St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Overlea in the same capacity, where he served from 1975 to 1982. Among the youths in the parish he influenced was Father Samuel Young, who counts Father Diehl as one of the men who led him to consider the priesthood.

“I distinctly remember training to be an altar server, and my first assignment being a 6:30 a.m. Mass,” said Father Young, associate pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Essex. “Father Dennis was the celebrant. He was a vibrant, enthusiastic priest, who wanted to get people involved in the life of the parish.

“His homilies were always on point, and he led a great ministry of theater that involved a lot of young people. The first production we put on was “Godspell.” Father Dennis wanted to make ministry a joyful experience. That was a charism he carried throughout his priesthood.”

In June 1982, Father Diehl was appointed part-time associate pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Gardenville, and as a part-time intern in communications media at Essex Community College. Over the next several years, he also worked with the Maryland Catholic Conference. Father Diehl began a special assignment with the archdiocesan Department of Christian Formation and in 1985 was made production manager for communications for the archdiocese.

Father Diehl was released to produce videos for the Catholic Telecommunications Network of America (CTNA), which operated under the auspices of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. 

He became associate pastor of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in September 1995, a month before it was a stop on Pope John Paul II’s historic visit to Baltimore. Father Diehl provided television commentary for both a prayer service at the cathedral and the day’s main event, Mass at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. 

According to a 2005 flashback in The Sun, one of the things that struck Father Diehl the most about the pontiff was his willingness to put God first, even during a tightly organized visit. Pope John Paul II was expected to do a drive-by of St. Mary’s Seminary on the way to see Vice President Gore, but did more than that.

“When he got to the seminary, he decided he wanted to go in and pray,” Father Diehl recalled to the Sun. “So they pulled the popemobile up to the chapel. Even though the vice president was waiting, he was going to do what he wanted to do.”

Father Diehl executive produced a video compilation of the pope’s time in the city, which can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JRZ1wkTdFU

In December 1996, he became pastor of St. Francis of Assisi in Fulton, which had opened as a mission in 1988. When he arrived, worship was still being held at Atholton High School and the parish numbered 500 families. It grew to more than 1,000, as Father Diehl led St. Francis through the construction of its own worship space, and then a faith formation center, which opened in 2010 and is named in his honor.

The latter was a blessing in multiple ways. Before it was constructed, the parish had to go through the laborious process of folding up the metal chairs used for Mass to convert the church space into classroom space for religious education.

“It really was a lot of work,” said Father Diehl, who a year earlier had told the Review, “Our unofficial motto is, ‘Let there be no strangers among us.’” 

John Depenbrock, who joined the parish in 2012 and began attending daily Mass, can attest to that spirit.

“Early on, I was touched when after one of the daily Masses he approached me and asked if I would be interested in serving on the pastoral council,” Depenbrock, now chairman of the parish council, wrote in an email. “I hadn’t been in the parish that long a time but he knew how to draw people in and make them feel valued and welcomed.”

Berta Sabrio worked with Father Diehl as the parish’s director of liturgy and music.

“Father Dennis loved being a priest and a pastor. He insisted that he did not want to build a church but that is in fact exactly what he did, said Sabrio, who recalled him nurturing the Fulton family as well as his own. “He and his parents had an incredible relationship. He looked forward to travelling with them, shopping with his mom, Mary, and hearing his dad, Paul’s stories about his buddies at the local bingo and on the golf course. He dearly loved his sister Lynda.”

Debbie Rhode, a parishioner along with John, her husband of 42 years, noted Father Diehl’s interest in the development of the youths of the parish.

Father Diehl was known as a gifted homilist; leading parish groups on mission trips overseas, often to Assisi, Italy; for having a keen appreciation of Native American culture; and for having a “wonderful sense of humor,” according to retired Father Timothy Klunk, a friend of more than 40 years and frequent traveling companion to Italy.

“He just loved children,” she said. “He was with us for our sons’ confirmation. Both did Eagle (Scout) projects on the church property. He made a point to go to as many first Communion parties as he could.”

Father Diehl, a knight in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, was also known for his ability on the dance floor. 

“I remember we had a party for him on his 50th birthday,” Debbie Rhode said.  “He could dance the night away. All the husbands were glad Father (Diehl) was there because he could take all the ladies who liked to dance off their hands.”

When one of her uncles, a priest, died, she turned to Father Diehl as she prepared a eulogy.

“I said ‘Father, if someone asked what you wanted to be remembered by, what would you say?’ He said, ‘I hope that my church family would think that I was Christ to them.”

Visitation will be held at St. Francis of Assisi in Fulton, 8300 Old Columbia Road, Oct. 13 from 3 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m., and Oct. 14 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Archbishop William E. Lori will offer a funeral Mass there at 2 p.m. Oct. 14. Interment at Rest Lawn Memorial Gardens in LaVale Oct. 15 at noon.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Pastoral Services for Retired Priests, 320 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201.

Paul McMullen contributed to this article. 

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