Congratulations to Paulist Fr. John Lynch, who celebrates the 70th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood today on May 1, 2021!

Fr. Lynch, 96, is only the second Paulist Father in history to celebrate a 70th anniversary. (The first was Paulist Fr. James Lloyd in 2018.)

Born in 1924 in New York City, Fr. Lynch was nine when his family moved to Washington, D.C. The Lynch family attended church and prayed together regularly. Young “Jack” was an altar boy.

With an uncle who was a Jesuit priest, “there was a family connection” to the priesthood, he recalled. “The option [of becoming a priest] was always there.”

He attended St. John’s College High School in Washington. In his senior year, he found himself asking what he should do next.

“I grew up in a very non-Catholic neighborhood where there was much misunderstanding and a lack of knowledge about our faith. After some investigating, I found out this was the Paulist mission. And I realized this was the best thing I could do with my life – to share the Catholic church that was so important in my life with those who did not know it.”

After spending two years at our minor seminary in Baltimore, MD, he entered the Paulist novitiate in 1944. He made his Final Promises in 1948 and was ordained a priest on May 1, 1951.

His first assignment was as associate pastor at St. Paul the Apostle in Los Angeles from 1951 to 1955 before returning to Baltimore to teach Latin for a semester at the Paulist seminary.

He then moved to Toronto to study at the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies while assisting at St. Peter’s Church. In a joint academic program, Fr. Lynch earned a licentiate in medieval studies at the institute and doctoral degree in philosophy from the University of Toronto.

He returned to St. Paul’s College, our then-major seminary in Washington, D.C., as a professor in 1959.

In the 1960s, he began to teach medieval history at The Catholic University of America’s School of Arts and Sciences. This role soon expanded to a joint appointment with the university’s School of Canon Law. After becoming a full professor, he served as chair of the canon law department from 1974 to 1983 and chair of the history department from 1983 to 1986.

Fr. Lynch also was vice provost for graduate studies at CUA for most of the 1990s.

In 2000, after retiring from CUA, Fr. Lynch became the Paulist archivist, based at St. Paul’s College. He served in this role through 2016 when he moved to Sacred Heart Home in Hyattsville, MD.

For more than 30 years, Fr. Lynch also served on weekends at Most Holy Rosary Church in Upper Marlboro, MD.