Paulist Fr. Charles Martin (1936 - 2023) was a member of the Paulist community for 64 years and a priest for almost 58 years.
He served in parishes, campus ministries and formation ministry.
Fr. Charlie also led retreats for priests and helped many priests who were working toward sobriety.
He was born on January 10, 1936, in Newport, RI, one of three children of John Joseph Martin and Marguerite Yates Martin.
He joined the Paulist novitiate on September 6, 1958, at the age of 22.
He made his First Promises to the Paulist community on September 8, 1959, and his Final Promises on September 8, 1962.
During these years, he earned degrees at St. Paul's College, our seminary in Washington, D.C., which was then a degree-granting institution. He later earned a second masters degree at the University of Northern Colorado.
On May 8, 1965, he was ordained a priest by Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York.
Fr. Charlie was an assistant priest at St. Lawrence University Parish in Minneapolis, MN, from September, 1965, to August, 1967, and then served on our missions band in Detroit.
In April, 1968, Fr. Charlie moved to St. Patrick's Church in Memphis, TN. He provided pastoral care to the neighborhood in the wake of the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In September, 1970, Fr. Charlie moved into campus ministry, what was then still sometimes called the "Newman Apostolate."
He served at the University of California at Santa Barbara / St. Mark's University Parish from 1970 to 1973; the University of Northern Colorado / St. Peter's Church in Greeley, CO, from 1973 to 1982; and was director of the Catholic Center at UCLA in Los Angeles from 1983 to 1985.
From 1982 to 1983, he had stint at Project Renewal in Boston.
He was associate pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Community in Los Angeles from May, 1985, to August, 1990, and was then superior of the Paulist Fathers based in Boston through August, 1995.
In 1996, Fr. Charlie returned to Minneapolis, MN, where he served at the Newman Center and St. Lawrence University Parish through August, 1999.
Fr. Charlie then moved into formation ministry at St. Paul's College, our then-seminary in Washington, D.C., serving as Associate Director of Formation from 2000 to 2002, Director of Formation from 2002 to 2004, and again as Associate Director from 2005 to 2006.
From 2006 to 2011, he was coordinator of the Paulist retirement residence in Vero Beach, FL.
He entered senior ministry at the Paulist Center in Boston in September, 2011.
Fr. Charlie was narrator of the 2017 documentary film "Isaac Hecker and the Journey of Catholic America" about the life and times of our founder, Servant of God Isaac Hecker.
Fr. Charlie entered eternal life on January 27, 2023, in Boston, following a brief illness. He was 87.
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Paulist Fr. Rich Andre writes: "But the absolute greatest thing about living at 5 Park Street in the summer of 2008 were my brother Paulists. Hilarious, caring, and spiritual, they supported me to the utmost while I was engaged in the stresses of CPE. Pictured: Bob Baer, Bill Brimley, Tom Kane, me, Stan MacNevin, Ruben Patino, Paul Huesing, Bob Rivers, and (visiting from Florida) Charlie Martin. Thanks for everything, guys!" -
Father Larry Rice, CSP, Paulist vocation director (left) and Father Charlie Martin, CSP (right) share some after dinner conversation with Patrick Christ (center), who is about to enter the Paulist novitiate. Mr. Christ was at St. Mary’s on the Lake, Lake George, N.Y., for the 2014 Paulist Plunge, a vocation discernment event where men come to explore the Paulist community. -
Paulist Fr. Charles Martin with John Shields, George Fitzgerald, and John McNassar (from left to right). They were standing on the steps of the major seminary in Washington D.C., where they have lived and studied for the last six years, during the final phase of their educational preparation for the Paulist Fathers.
