The year was 1993. Catholic Herald staff writer Paul Grankauskas stopped by Dominion Camera in Falls Church to pick up some photography supplies. When he pulled back into the chancery parking lot, he felt a vocational call.
“I pulled into a parking spot, and I just had this image in my head of myself as a priest, and something said, ‘That’s where you’re supposed to go.’ And I kind of sat there for a few minutes in the car like, ‘woah,’ ” he said.
Father Paul M. Grankauskas, pastor of St. Bridget of Ireland Church in Berryville, shared memories of his career as a Herald staff writer in the ’90s, before he entered seminary to pursue the priesthood.
He began as an intern in the summer of 1991. “I was a student at Marymount University up the road in Arlington, and every major requires that you do an internship,” he said. He enjoyed the internship, and after graduation a year later, the Herald became a full-time gig. “I started in the circulation department, and then moved off to being a staff writer,” he remembered.
During his time in circulation, he completed data entry and updated subscription info. He said the transition to staff writer was exciting but occasionally humbling. After submitting his first few article drafts to the editors, including Managing Editor Ann Augherton, “I think most of my articles would always come back rewritten,” he said.
At the time he worked at the Herald, the paper published weekly. “Tuesday was always ‘scramble day,’ ” the weekday when the issue’s files were due at the printing plant, he said. In those days, hard copies of photographs had to be physically placed on the page, “and of course, the photos didn’t come back just right,” he remembered. “To do the page layout, they had to cut and paste the page and put it together.”
One frequent challenge was photography, especially in the days before digital photography became mainstream. “I was always the one that was adjusting the light meter and taking five pictures of the same thing,” he said.
The Herald’s Parish Profile assignments quickly became one of his favorites. “That was a lot of fun, running around and visiting all the different parishes. We used to fight over who would get to come out to the ones that were farther out,” he recalled. He also had a rare opportunity to see now-saints in the flesh, including Mother Teresa during her visit to Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg in 1995. That same year, he received his most high-intensity assignment: “I remember chasing (Pope) John Paul II around Baltimore during his visit.”
But it was the staff — not just the stories — that left the greatest impression on him, he said. He added that the staff enjoyed many outings together, including mini golf competitions and picnics.
In January 1994, he left the Herald to enter seminary. But he couldn’t stay away for long and returned to work at the Herald during summer and winter breaks. He was ordained a priest June 10, 2000, by Bishop Paul S. Loverde.
Father Grankauskas said his Herald career still plays a role in his priestly vocation. “When I preach, I don’t use notes or anything,” he said. “It’s kind of like writing a journalism article.” He said he even puts his layout skills to use by helping parish staff lay out the weekly bulletin.
Having just celebrated his silver jubilee of 25 years in the priesthood last June, Father Grankauskas said that his Herald career was more than just a job: “It was really instrumental in that final discernment of where God wanted me to be.”
