SPRINGFIELD — Father John J. Hughes, pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Springfield since 1986, will soon be retiring. After 17 years of running one of the largest parishes in the diocese, he will concentrate on "celebrating the sacraments and not administration," he said, using a phrase of Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde.

Originally from Rhode Island, Father Hughes said that at the time he came to the present-day Arlington Diocese (then part of the Richmond Diocese), at least 80 percent of the priests came from out of the state. Sixty-two percent of people in Rhode Island at the time were Catholic; three percent in Virginia.

"There was a different need in Virginia than there was at home," said Father Hughes.

Virginia was considered missionary territory, and then-Bishop Peter L. Ireton readily accepted the priests who chose to serve here, Father Hughes said. He and (the late) Father John O’Connell, who was later rector of the Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington, were classmates and came to this area together.

"I was grateful for the opportunity to serve in Virginia," said Father Hughes.

He was born to John J. and Clara Hope Hughes on June 25, 1927, in Providence, R. I. Attending Catholic school through ninth grade, he then continued at a public high school. St. Michael Parish, the large city parish where he grew up, had 18,000 members, 1,300 parochial school students, one pastor and five parochial vicars. It was a strong influence on him, as were his parents.

"I think every Catholic boy or girl considers religious life at one time or another," he said.

He was just out of high school, when he joined the U.S. Navy and served as a shop machinist from May 1945-August 1946. Part of his time was served in the Philippines where the Catholic chaplain, Father John Burns, made an impression on him. "He was quite an inspiration," said Father Hughes.

Afterward, he began at St. Jerome’s College in Canada, a preparatory seminary. The U.S. colleges were overcrowded with servicemen returning from the war. Father Hughes and two friends, Dick Maynard and Ed Shields, had attended elementary school, joined the Navy and then went to the seminary together. After two years at the Canadian college, Father Hughes was sent to St. Mary Seminary in Baltimore by Bishop Ireton. On May 8, 1954, Father Hughes was ordained at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Richmond.

His first assignment was at St. Thomas More Parish in Arlington as parochial vicar until 1960; then parochial vicar at the Richmond parishes of St. Patrick until 1962 and at Our Lady of Lourdes from 1962-67, where he was promoted to pastor and served until 1973. He then moved back to Northern Virginia and served at St. Luke Parish in McLean from 1973-86 and then St. Bernadette Parish.

His other assignments included coordinator of two diocesan high schools, St. Patrick from 1960-63 and Cathedral for 1963, both in Richmond. He also served Richmond as a member of the Personnel Board for four-and-a-half years; of the Due Process Board for five years; and commentator on the Gospel for a 15-minute Sunday Radio program for eight-and-a-half years; and member of the Liturgy Commission for nine years. He was director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith from 1968-74 and then continued in the same position for the Arlington Diocese from 1974-91.

Now in his 49th year of priesthood, Father Hughes said some of his great interests have been social ministry, liturgy, Catholic schools and religious education.

"Early on the most exciting years were 1954-73, where we had most significant changes going on in the Church, opening the doors to lay participation and liturgical changes," said Father Hughes.

As a member of the diocesan Liturgy Commission, he and other clergy visited the various deaneries and demonstrated to the priests the new Mass changes in the mid-1960s brought about by Vatican II. One element was that in 1964 church altars were turned around to face the congregation.

"The priests felt very, very comfortable doing this because we met with them one-on-one," rather than sending out directives, he said. "Bishop (John J.) Russell (of Richmond) was very supportive of liturgy."

"The priesthood has been very, very, very enriching," he said. In his 48 years as a priest, he has been in five parishes. "In every parish, I’ve found good people; hardworking lay people who make so many things happen." He pointed out that there are hundreds of volunteers at St. Bernadette’s. "The lay involvement of people has been very impressive to me, as is their faith dimension, particularly those who are ill. They speak of what we (priests) do, but that is compensated many times over by the faith of people, particularly during difficult times. And that’s been true in every parish."

He said that it was a transition to go from a parish in Richmond to one in Fairfax County, but good things happened in both places. The initial new church building was constructed during his time at St. Luke Parish.

During his time at St. Bernadette, the parish membership has increased more than two times its original size, from 6,000 to more than 13,000. He said the church, which seats 1,500, is still large enough to accommodate the attendees. He said some of the highlights in his tenure have been the growth in religious education, music, the liturgy and youth ministry.

The religious education program has more than 1,000 attendees with two Directors of Religious Education (DREs). Shortly after Father Hughes arrival, the director began a RCIA and RCIC (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and Children, respectively). The RCIC program, for first- through 12th-graders, which the parents must attend also, has reinstated close to 400 children in the Church.

The music ministry encompasses two Sunday morning choirs, one with 85 voices and a contemporary ensemble with more than 20 members. He said the liturgy program has enlarged substantially, especially in lay participation, and they now have 140 altar boys, who usually serve through high school.

Youth Minister John Campbell, who has been at the parish 13 years, "stresses spirituality, and is involved in the sacramental program of confirmation," said Father Hughes. The youth ministry program includes people from junior high school through college. For several years, the ministry theater group has produced a Broadway show in the summer. "It’s highly successful and good for the young people," said Father Hughes.

"Working with Father Hughes has been a blessing," said Campbell. "He gives me fairly free reign and I’ve also learned from him, especially by example. Also, he never says a negative word about anyone," he said, citing Father Hughes "humble, quiet ways."

"He has a passion for youth ministry and is very supportive of the program," said Campbell. "He assigns a priest to go with us on retreats, every summer to workcamp with the 60-70 kids and now, World Youth Day."

Father Hughes said the parish also has a "vibrant school," with an average of 500 students a year. The former convent, built for 19 sisters, has been converted into a parish center and offices. It includes a diocesan SPRED (Special Religious Education) office, a parish library for adults and chapel. Structural changes have also occurred, such as doubling the size of the chapel.

The two sisters who now serve at the parish initiated their own move into a condominium just six doors away. Daughter of Wisdom Sister Louise Dufour works in the school library and Daughter of Wisdom Sister Marie Sopr has a parish pastoral ministry to the home bound and sick.

The parish is holding a going away party for Father Hughes on June 23. After his retirement, Father Hughes will reside in an apartment in Northern Virginia.

The Hart family, Kevin, Kathy and their sons Patrick, 12 and Peter, 8, have been members of the parish since 1985.

"We really didn’t get to know Father Hughes until 1991 when we had a baby that was dying," said Kathy. Their second child, a newborn daughter, was very ill, and doctors were recommending that the parents put in a "do not resuscitate" order at the hospital.

"We were scared and confused and we called the rectory and he answered," said Kathy. "We told him what was happening and within 20 minutes he was at my bedside. He helped us make a decision on what was morally all right. And he held our hand at the funeral."

"One of his real strengths, I believe, is in the sacraments which he administers. He knows exactly what to say and has such a strong faith. Even at my baby’s funeral, I walked away with a smile because of his gifts."

A few years later, when Kathy was pregnant with Peter, the doctors told her that this baby would die also. During the extremely difficult several months before he was born, "Father Hughes was so reassuring and gentle and compassionate. All the parish priests at the time were wonderful," she said. Peter was ultimately healthy. "Now Father and Peter have a special relationship, because each depended on the other," she said.

Father Hughes is a very strong proponent of Catholic education, especially at the parish, she said. All three of the parish parochial vicars teach a weekly religion class to the students. Both of her boys attend St. Bernadette school and she volunteers there, seeing Father Hughes in the building every day she visits. The children recently threw a going away party for him.

At every special Mass, such as Christmas, Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, she said Father Hughes sings to the congregation from the pulpit. "He’s an Irish tenor, world famous for singing ‘Danny Boy,’" she said. Pointing out that he has a great love for the parish and all its components, she said that Father Hughes can be found around the site, checking on things and helping out. "He’s everywhere," she said.

<body>When he was serving in the Richmond Diocese, Father Hughes was involved in a special endeavor.

"We had a Social Ministries Program which was very exciting," he said. At the time he was pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, which is in Henrico County on the border of Richmond.

"Within our parish boundaries, literally across the street from middle-class America we had 90 African-American families living in the Francistown community with unpaved roads throughout the development — some people with electricity, some without, some with water, some without," said Father Hughes. And there wasn’t a Catholic among them. We felt a responsibility for these people."

Beginning in 1969, "we got the county to refurbish an abandoned two-room classroom and made it a community center," said Father Hughes. "We got them to form their own civic association, so the county had to recognize them. We got families relocated."

One situation had 10 families living in a two-room shack, which was so fragile that any repair work might have caused it to cave in, he said. One of the housing arrangements the parish made was to move a family into a trailer home while a HUD (Housing and Urban Development) home was being built for them on the property.

The parish, with the instrumental assistance of St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond, was able to obtain a $37,000 grant, only the third one from the newly formed Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), to buy a motor home.

"We transformed the motor home into a clinic on wheels, which the people in the community named ‘The Health Wagon,’" said Father Hughes. "It was a very, very positive statement — healthcare on wheels. It took care of the people’s primary medical needs. Formerly they would go down to one of the local Richmond hospitals. They would take a day out of work, find that they were in the wrong line at five o’clock and sent home. Before we had the motor home we would drive them down there and see that they were taken care of properly, but afterwards we were able to take care a lot of things right there."

Volunteer doctors and nurses from St. Mary’s Hospital staffed the wagon, and the parish was also able to hire two people from the local neighborhood to serve.

He said it was wonderful to be able to work with the people of that community.

"We involved the young people in a Sunday program," said Father Hughes. "We had 18 intra-mural basketball teams and we brought the children of Francistown into that, forming boys and girls teams."

He said the experience was very enriching and fulfilling. The parish also provided clothing, food, furniture and health, housing and legal services. Through the parish’s ecumenical arm, a number of Protestant churches also contributed.

The program was part of Father Hughes’ legacy and continued after he moved on to a Northern Virginia parish.