Father Ruane, known for empowering laity, retiring as pastor of Howard County parish

Note: Five priests of the Archdiocese of Baltimore will be retiring July 1. The Review profiles the five as their parishes bid them farewell. Click here to read more retirement profiles. 

POPLAR SPRINGS – The idea of becoming a priest was nothing out of the ordinary when Father Michael J. Ruane was growing up at St. Dominic Parish in Hamilton during the 1950s.

Just on Gibbons Avenue alone, where his family’s home was located, he and four other neighborhood children all entered the seminary and were ordained priests for the Archdiocese of Baltimore within a few years. They included his older brother, Gene (who would later leave the priesthood), Monsignor George Moeller, Monsignor Thomas Tewes and Monsignor Robert Bozel.

Father Ruane remembers the era as a time when young men looked up to priests and to the Daughters of Charity who formed them in their Catholic faith at the parish school. Catholic culture was deeply engrained in the community in the form of eucharistic processions, the celebration of Marian devotions and a shared sense of faith.

“I served at the altar (as an altar boy),” Father Ruane recalled. “I helped priests move in and out of the rectory. I worked at the carnivals. I associated with the priests. I came to know many of them and saw what the life of a priest was like.”

Desiring to give his life in service of God and the church, Father Ruane entered the minor seminary in Catonsville right after graduating eighth grade. From there, he completed seminary studies at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg and was ordained to the priesthood in 1969.

Throughout his more than half century of ministry, Father Ruane has made the sacraments central to his priesthood.

“I’ve never wanted to be anything else but a parish priest,” said Father Ruane, 78. “I’ve enjoyed being with people during significant transitions in their lives – mostly through administering the sacraments, visiting the sick, preaching and teaching.”

Father Ruane will retire July 1. As pastor of St. Michael in Poplar Springs for 34 years, he is one of the longest-serving pastors at a single parish in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

When he arrived at the Howard County parish in 1988 (not even knowing where Poplar Springs was located), there were 600 families in the faith community. Father Ruane shepherded the parish’s steady growth, seeing St. Michael’s registry climb to 1,400 families today.

Keith Gehle, who served on the parish finance committee, said his friend showed strong leadership in building a multipurpose building for the parish and erecting a religious education wing – adding 10 classrooms, a gymnasium, a commercial kitchen and more.

Father Ruane also restored a historic 1879 church near the parish cemetery and oversaw the establishment of a Marian prayer garden. He helped launch a parish pre-school that has grown to 60 children within four years and chartered an active Knights of Columbus council.

“He really does empower his parishioners,” said Gehle, who worked with his late wife, Mary Ann, to help Father Ruane with a variety of fundraising efforts to support various projects at the parish.

“When parishioners are ready to step up,” Gehle said, “he’s right there to help them succeed.”

Gehle said Father Ruane has a sincere spiritualty that touches the hearts of his parishioners. When Gehle’s wife died in February, Father Ruane supported him.

“He was there for me – always checking in on me to make sure everything was okay,” Gehle said. “He’s like a brother to me.”

Ted Burkhardt, a pastoral assistant and former youth minister at the parish, said Father Ruane’s pastoral sensitivity is especially evident in the tender way he supports grieving families.

“When he’s having a funeral Mass, he does such a beautiful job asking for memories from the families and people in the parish,” Burkhardt said. “He does a beautiful job weaving Scripture into the homily and explaining the meaning of the person’s saint name. We’ve had a number of families who have suffered the loss of a young child or the sudden loss of a youth and he’s been a great consolation to them.”

Before coming to St. Michael, Father Ruane served as an associate pastor of Our Lady of Hope in Dundalk and St. Agnes in Catonsville.

He credits his mother, Clementine Victoria, for being a rock of faith in difficult times. Father Ruane’s father died in 1947 when Father Ruane was 4. His mother never remarried, caring for eight children on her own.

Father Ruane, who had spent his younger years at St. Paul Parish in Baltimore before the family moved to Hamilton in 1951, took care of his mother at the St. Michael’s rectory late in her long life of nearly 103 years.

“The whole parish wrapped their arms around that whole situation,” Gehle said.

As he prepares to transition to life at Mercy Ridge Retirement Community in Timonium, Father Ruane said he is grateful to St. Michael’s parishioners for their love and their willingness to support their parish. He has some advice for those considering religious life.

“Try to listen to the voice of God to discern your vocation,” he said. “Life is short. Really try to discern how to use your talents – whether it’s going to be in the priesthood, religious, married or single life – to help people.”

Email George Matysek at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org

Also see

Father William Au, pastor of the Shrine of the Sacred Heart, is set to retire

Father Demek retires after nearly 50 years as a priest

Father Gills retires after a ministry that took him around the world and around the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Father Foley, pastor to retired priests, set to retire himself

‘Unflappable’ pastor who shepherded major parish projects ready to retire

Approaching retirement, Monsignor Barker reflects on shepherding one of the largest parishes in the Archdiocese of Baltimore

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