July 5, 2008
Folsom pastor retiring after 49 joy-filled years in priesthood
By Susan Laird
Herald Correspondent
Father Ignatius Haran, shown at St. John the Baptist Parish in Folsom where he has been pastor for the past 16 years, is retiring Aug. 1 from active ministry. Susan Laird/Herald photo
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few…”
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations…”
Scripture passages such as these, spoken by missionary priests, fired the imagination of a teen-ager in an Irish boarding school. It was a call to a lifetime of joyful service to God’s people as a priest, and young Ignatius Haran answered it wholeheartedly.
Forty-nine years have passed since Father Haran, pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in Folsom, was ordained a priest. Thousands of lives have been touched by this hard-working, modest priest who has always sought to be “the hands of Christ” that serve others.
On Aug. 1, Father Haran will retire from active ministry. His years in the priesthood have been “very happy and fulfilling” for him personally, he says.
He grew up on the family farm in County Sligo, Ireland. All eight of the Haran children were intelligent and excelled at school. His parents thought he would make a fine dentist. God had other plans, however.
“I was 17 and some missionary priests from Africa came to my boarding school,” he recalled. “I decided then I wanted to become a priest and go to Africa. When they learned this, my parents wanted me to become a priest in the local diocese. I went to All Hallows Seminary in Dublin — they were the experts in training priests for the English-speaking world. In the end, I came to America.”
In 1959, Father Haran and three other newly-ordained Irish priests arrived in Sacramento. Then Bishop Joseph McGucken welcomed the Irish priests warmly, and advised them to remember that they would “be dealing with people, so be practical.”
“He was telling us, really, to pay attention to the spirit of the law, not just the letter of the law,” Father Haran said. “I never forgot that.”
He began his ministry as associate pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Sacramento in 1959. From there, he spent two years at the Center for Intercultural Formation in Cuernavaca, Mexico. In 1962, he was again assigned as associate pastor of St. Joseph Parish. He was later assigned to Immaculate Conception Parish in Sacramento.
Following that assignment, Father Haran became chaplain of the California Medical Center in Vacaville, where he served for the next 11 years.
In 1978, he became pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Jackson, where he served for more than 17 years. While at St. Patrick’s, Father Haran quickly established a reputation for being an approachable, hard-working and caring priest.
Father Haran is “such a dedicated priest,” said Rena Bertolero, a member of St. Patrick Parish. “He takes his mission responsibility and the priesthood very seriously. In addition to celebrating the daily Mass, his daily routine was to visit the sick. Once a month he would go through the entire county.”
Father Ronan Brennan, pastor emeritus of Immaculate Conception Parish in Sutter Creek and also a close friend and golf partner, admires Father Haran’s use of unusual talents.
“In addition to being a tremendous competitor on the golf course, he’s a really good handyman,” he said. “Father Haran can fix anything. He builds clocks as a hobby, and he can fix them, too.”
He recalls when Father Haran was at the top of a ladder in the late 1970s painting the inside of St. Patrick Church by himself.
“A couple of tourists arrived, wanting to see the inside of the building,” Father Brennan said. “And there he was — up at the top of the ladder, in work clothes. He came down and gave them a tour of the place and they were quite impressed. Some weeks later, a check arrived at the parish, because that couple thought the church must be so poor, since the pastor had to do all the painting.”
“He takes the time and devotion to assist individuals no matter the circumstances or the situation at hand. I know he searches for the good in people and overcomes the bad or difficulty he encounters. He cares for those with the greatest needs: the sick, the poor and the young.”
John Knight, coordinator for the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Society
Bertolero notes Father Haran “was an inspiration to everyone in Amador County. Non-Catholics loved him, too. Everyone could talk to him.”
Father Haran was instrumental in building Our Lady of the Pines, the mission church of St. Patrick Parish, in Pioneer, where the hall is named after him.
Since 1992, he’s served as pastor of St. John the Baptist, where he is known for his warmth, kindness and administrative skills. He visits the sick daily, at area hospitals and homes. He cares for former parishioners also. Recently, he drove to Jackson to administer the anointing of the sick.
John Knight, coordinator for the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul Society, calls Father Haran “considerate and patient in all the challenges he faces.”
“He takes the time and devotion to assist individuals no matter the circumstances or the situation at hand. I know he searches for the good in people and overcomes the bad or difficulty he encounters. He cares for those with the greatest needs: the sick, the poor and the young.”
Cynthia Mulcaire, coordinator of religious education at St. John the Baptist, added that he’s “very generous with his time, no matter the hour.”
“He is generous with his resources and has been known to dig into his own pocket to help the needy,” she said. “He is supportive of all the youth in the parish. The children truly love Father Haran in a grandfatherly way.”
With his crisp Irish accent and dry wit, Father Haran is known for putting people at ease with a great story that has a message.
Larry Walsh, parish coordinator of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, said Father Haran would speak to catechumens and candidates each year. “He would make Catholic doctrine so understandable for them — and all with an Irish sense of humor,” Walsh said.
Looking back on the past half century, Father Haran said the greatest thing that happened in the church was going from the Latin to the vernacular.
“At first, I wasn’t all that enthused about it,” he said. “I had grown up with the Latin Mass and started out with it in the first four years of my priesthood. But I changed my mind as I saw people starting to become more involved in the Mass. And of course, the worst thing that’s happened to the church is the sexual abuse scandals.”
Offering the sacraments to God’s people is always a source of deep joy, he said, adding that he believes that “God doesn’t call us to be miserable” in this life, whether one is called to the priesthood or any other vocation. Serving others is his greatest joy.
“Jesus said it’s about helping other people,” Father Haran said. “It can be extremely tough at times, but it’s still true: At the end of the day, you’ve still tried to help someone.”
In retirement, Father Haran said he looks forward to spending additional time with his siblings and relatives in Ireland, and then dedicating more time to prayer in Folsom, where he will continue to reside. And perhaps, a little time to enjoy “golf, golf and more golf,” he said.
Parishioners of St. John the Baptist Parish will hold a reception to honor Father Haran’s final Sunday Masses on July 27. Father Rey Bersabal is the new pastor of St. John the Baptist beginning Aug. 1.
