Monsignor Luca, longtime pastor of Howard County parishes, dies at 79

Remembered as a dedicated shepherd to his flock, Monsignor Joseph Luca, pastor emeritus of St. Louis in Clarksville and St. Francis of Assisi in Fulton, died Oct. 1 after a long battle with cancer. He was 79.

Monsignor Luca was the longtime pastor of St. Louis, a burgeoning Howard County parish of more than 4,000 families, from 1996 until his retirement in 2021. When St. Francis of Assisi, Fulton, became part of a pastorate with St. Louis in 2018, Monsignor Luca also provided leadership for that 800-family church. He had previously served as pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Essex.

“Monsignor Joseph Luca was a dedicated disciple and priest of Jesus Christ whose love for our Lord inspired many others to fall in love with Christ,” Archbishop William E. Lori said. “He gave of himself wholeheartedly to the people he served – even in his later years when he struggled with his own health challenges. Monsignor Luca was a friend to all he met, a mentor to seminarians and priests, and a model of what it means to be a good shepherd.”

Pat Sprankle, who served 27 years at St. Louis as director of youth ministry, said his friend “always wanted to follow the Good Shepherd, and model the Good Shepherd.”

“He even took on the face of Jesus,” Sprankle said.

Monsignor Luca served his parishioners and trusted and affirmed his staff, according to Sprankle. “When you represent the church, make it matter,” he recalled the pastor saying.

Kathy Sipes, semi-retired administrator and teacher at Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore was hired by Monsignor Luca to lead the elementary school at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the early 1980s. She later headed the high school as principal before becoming president of both the elementary and high schools.

“He genuinely and sincerely worked for God’s people every single minute of his ministry,” Sipes said.“He was able to connect with all those people with great love.”

Sipes praised her friend’s sense of humor and his talents as a great administrator. As an educator, she was grateful for the way he valued Catholic schools. She remembers him saying at her job interview, “I believe the greatest gift the church can give is an education to its young people.” 

Monsignor Luca, Sipes said, strongly supported parish schools and built relationships with students.

Mercy Sister Fran DeMarco was a young religious sister when she was assigned as the first pastoral associate at St. Joseph in Cockeysville, where Monsignor Luca was associate pastor early in his priesthood. A nervous wreck before the first time she spoke to the parish, Sister Fran recalled how Monsignor Luca built her up. 

“You’re going to do great,” she remembers him saying. “You have the gifts God has given you to use.”

She noted how he offered faith formation classes to keep connected with people during the coronavirus pandemic and how he loved to take people on pilgrimages.

Sister Fran said she learned a lot from his pastoral approach, his great sense of humor, his generosity, his uplifting homilies, the way he was present to people who were hurting and how he responded to their needs. 

“He’s so present to people,” she said.

Monsignor Luca was known as a builder, too. During his 25-year pastorate at St. Louis, he led construction of a new 1,200-seat church built around stained glass windows removed during the restoration of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At the dedication of St. Louis’ new house of worship, Cardinal William H. Keeler described the structure as the archdiocese’s “cathedral of the south” and praised Monsignor Luca for his leadership in erecting the grand building.

Monsignor Luca also saw to the restoration of the parish’s original 1855 chapel, conversion of the 1980 church into a parish center, and the creation of a new activities center.

In an interview at his retirement, Monsignor Luca dismissed accolades about all the buildings he saw constructed.

“My point is that when we’re called to the kingdom, no one’s going to remember who built those buildings,” he said. “But they will remember when their priest was there when they were in need of counseling. They’ll remember who celebrated their wedding, who celebrated with great joy the baptism of their first child, or who came to visit them in the hospital.”

Monsignor Luca grew up in St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Gardenville, where he was impressed by a young priest at the parish, Monsignor Charles Meisel. But he dismissed his own inclination toward priestly ministry until he was older.

After graduation from Baltimore City College, he enrolled in the pre-dentistry program at the University of Maryland, College Park. An invitation to help the Catholic chaplain, Monsignor William C. Tepe, with a food and clothing drive led the young man to answering the call to priesthood.

Following studies at Resurrection College in Canada and Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Monsignor Luca was ordained May 16, 1970, at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland.

His early assignments were as associate pastor of St. Francis of Assisi, Baltimore; St. Clement Mary Hofbauer, Rosedale; and St. Joseph, Cockeysville.

He was named pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Essex, where he ministered from 1982 to 1993. He then served as archdiocesan director of Renew, a Catholic small-group evangelism program, from 1993 to 1996. He was also a member of the board of directors for the Cathedral Foundation, the corporation that once oversaw the Catholic Review.

Monsignor Luca was known for his support of seminarians and young priests. In the last quarter century, St. Louis has produced numerous priests, deacons and women religious – one of the leading parishes in the archdiocese for cultivating religious vocations, according to a May 27, 2021 article in the Catholic Review. Monsignor Luca personally invited many young people to consider the religious life and consciously tried to provide an example of joyful priesthood.

“I really believe there are vocations in every parish,” Monsignor Luca told the Catholic Review in a 2009 interview. “It’s a matter of cooperating with God’s call and being encouraging.”

Monsignor Kevin Schenning, pastor of St. Margaret in Bel Air, was among those young priests inspired by Monsignor Luca’s example.

“He’s been a mentor to me since the very beginning,” he said, recalling his first assignment at Mount Carmel soon after Monsignor Luca became pastor. “He showed me what it meant to be a priest.”

Monsignor Schenning noted that Monsignor Luca showed such care for his parishioners, making sure he was fully present to them whether it was a time of need or one of joy. 

“It made me want to be like him,” he said.

Their friendship continued even when the two priests went to new assignments. Monsignor Schenning noted that Monsignor Luca gave his friend the purple-trimmed cassock when he was made monsignor. The last time they were together, at Monsignor Schenning’s 40th priesthood anniversary, he remembers what Monsignor Luca said: “I’m very proud of you. You have been a good priest.” 

“That was a real affirmation for me,” Monsignor Schenning said.

During his tenure at St. Louis, Monsignor Luca began battling cancer, including brain surgery and other treatments. The experience, he told The Catholic Review, made him a better priest.

“I’ve not talked about it much, but it’s made me more aware of the people who go through it and it’s helped me to appreciate more what they’re going through,” he said. “When you experience it yourself, you come to appreciate what others are experiencing.”

Sipes believes Monsignor Luca was a model of what it means to be a good priest.

“I would love it if there were many more Joe Lucas in this world,” she said.

A viewing and visitation will be held Oct. 4 from 2 to 7 p.m. at St. Louis in Clarksville, followed by a 7 p.m. vigil service. A viewing and visitation will also be held Oct. 5 from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at St. Louis, followed by an 11 a.m. funeral Mass offered by Archbishop William E. Lori.

George P. Matysek Jr. contributed to this story. Email Matysek at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org.

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 6:48 p.m. on Oct. 1 to correct Monsignor Luca’s age at the time of his death. The story was updated again at 11:22 a.m. on Oct. 3 to add comments from Archbishop William E. Lori.

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