Special to the Herald
(From the issue of 3/3/05)

Citing unprecedented growth in the diocese, Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde last week appointed Father Mark Mealey, O.S.F.S., Vicar General for Administration, and Father Frank J. Ready, Vicar General for Pastoral Services. The two will join Msgr. R. Roy Cosby, who retains his office as Vicar General.

"Our diocese has experienced 42 percent growth in the past decade alone," the bishop said. "With such growth comes challenges, and I am pleased to now have the wisdom and expertise of three seasoned priests to assist me in my responsibilities as the diocesan bishop. They will be able collaborators in my pastoral service to the nearly 400,000 members of our diocese."

Vicars General serve as the diocesan bishop’s primary assistants and official representatives in the governance of a diocese. As Vicars General to Bishop Loverde, Father Mealey, Father Ready and Msgr. Cosby will work cooperatively with responsibility for overall administration, pastoral affairs and ecumenical matters, as further specified by Bishop Loverde for each area. Father Mealey will retain his duties as Moderator of the Curia.

Father Ready was ordained in 1959 by former Richmond Bishop John Russell. After serving in several parishes in the Diocese of Richmond, Father Ready became affiliated with the Diocese of Arlington. He oversaw the establishment of a new parish, Church of the Nativity, Burke, and served there from 1973-1984. He was pastor at Sacred Heart Parish, Manassas, from 1984-1995, and has served as pastor of Holy Spirit, Annandale, from July, 1995, to the present. Father Ready has served on the Priests’ Retirement Committee, Clergy Personnel Board, and Presbyteral Council.

A native of Philadelphia, Father Mealey made his first profession of vows in 1969 and was ordained a priest in 1979. Father Mealey served at St. John Neumann Parish in Reston from 1979-85 before pursuing a doctorate and Juris Doctorate in canon law. Father Mealey holds master’s degrees in theology and history, and served as a judge in the Archdiocesan Tribunal in Philadelphia before coming to Arlington in 1990. Since then he has been the Judicial Vicar for the Diocese of Arlington and has also served as Vicar for Religious, Moderator of the Curia and Episcopal Vicar for Pastoral Services. Since 1994 he has been the Councilor General of the Oblates, and from 1995 to the present he has also been assistant Superior General and Procurator General.

Msgr. Cosby was ordained by Bishop Peter Ireton in 1954. He holds a master’s degree in teaching, taught at St. Francis College in Loretto, Pa., and St. John Vianney Seminary. He was appointed pastor of St. Joseph Parish, Columbia; in 1970, Msgr. Cosby became the founding pastor of Holy Family Parish in Dale City, where he served for eight years. He became pastor of St. Timothy Parish in Chantilly in 1978 and founding pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Fredericksburg in 1983. In 1994, former Arlington Bishop John R. Keating named him pastor of St. James Parish in Falls Church.

Msgr. Cosby has served the diocese in numerous capacities, including chairman of the diocesan research and development committee; board member of Catholic Charities; director of Christian Life Communities and director of the diocesan Apostleship of Prayer; chairman of the diocesan ecumenical committee; vice chancellor of the diocese (1998-2000); and ex officio member of the Presbyteral Council. He received the honorary title of "reverend monsignor" in October 1994 — the 11th diocesan priest to receive the papal honor. Msgr. Cosby was pastor of St. James Parish at the time of his retirement in June 1999. He is currently in residence at Holy Spirit Parish in Annandale.