Father Pete Literal will retire after ministering for decades in prisons, parishes and cultural outreach

Father Pete D. Literal, the pastor of St. John the Evangelist in Hydes who will retire July 1 at age 73, took a long road to becoming a parish priest in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Shortly after he arrived in the United States in 1987 to train at Rutgers University as a substance abuse counselor, the Filipino native joined the Federal Bureau of Prisons. He had been ordained April 18, 1978, in the Archdiocese of Lipa and served parishes there.

After working at the dioceses of Newark and Trenton and an assignment at St. Philip the Apostle Parish in Saddlebrook, N.J., he spent the next two decades in prison ministry as a substance abuse counselor to inmates, working at federal prisons in Allenwood, Pa., the former Fort Dix in New Jersey, and in Memphis before working at the main Bureau of Prisons office in Washington, D.C.

Like many who go into that type of counseling, he said his interest came about because of the suffering he’d observed. 

“Simply because in the Philippines, I was curious to know more about addiction,” Father Literal explained. “I saw a lot of it in the Philippines. It’s an illness that needs to be treated.”

His archdiocesan assignments before joining St. John were as associate pastor of Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland, temporary administrator at St. Thomas More in Baltimore and associate pastor of St. Louis in Clarksville.

He celebrated his first Mass at St. John Jan. 2, 2018.

Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien, then archbishop of Baltimore, asked Father Literal to organize an outreach ministry to the Filipino community. The result was the Filipino Council, which promotes Filipino Catholic values and, every September, holds the Filipino Saints Fiesta Celebration at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. Father Literal is the council’s chaplain.

“I can pack the cathedral with a lot of people,” Father Literal said. The council also sponsors the annual Faith and Leadership Assembly for Renewal and Empowerment for the Filipino community, designed for spiritual enrichment and developing leaders.

He considers himself someone with a second lease on life after a kidney transplant 25 years ago. He’s the youngest of seven children and the kidney donor was his brother Robert, the sixth of the seven. Recovery took three months, and the difficult part of that, Father Literal said, was being unable to celebrate Mass.

The common thread of appreciative recollections from two parish leaders is of Father Literal in action.

“Father Pete has been a constant source of wisdom, encouragement and compassion within our parish family,” said Dean Manzoni, outgoing president of the parish council. “His presence in the sanctuary, at the altar and among the people has been a reflection of Christ’s love and humility.

“He walked with us through life’s most sacred moments – from baptisms and weddings to funerals and quiet prayers – always offering a steady heart and a listening ear.”

Parish corporator Barbara Hickman called Father Literal “a true shepherd, leading with humility, love and an unwavering sense of family and community.” 

During the COVID-19 pandemic when corporeal worship was impossible, his leadership “was nothing short of inspiring. Father Pete never missed a beat – offering drive-by confessions, launching online services and keeping the lines of communication open when we needed it most. He embraced new and progressive ideas with enthusiasm, always seeking ways to better serve and unite our parish.”

Hickman remembered that two years ago after a heavy storm, the parish kitchen flooded. Father Literal stood side-by-side with the Knights of Columbus, mop in hand. 

“Whether it was a parish dinner, a community service event or one of our beloved parish dances, he was always present – not just attending, but participating with joy, dancing with both the young and the young at heart,” she said. 

The parish will honor Father Literal with a special June 29 reception.

Retirement means a condo in White Marsh, but Father Literal intends to continue to find ways to serve the area’s Filipino community.

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