He wanted to tough it out a few more years. But after enduring complications from surgery last summer, Father Denis M. Donahue, pastor of St. Philip Church in Falls Church, knew it was time to retire after serving 36 years as a priest.
“It’s been hard throughout my life as a pastor, and now I realize that I’m not giving parishioners or my staff the time they really need,” he said. “Last summer and fall into the winter was a very, very tough time, and it was in December that I realized I really need to step away.”
He wasn’t expected to survive the gunshot wounds he suffered Aug. 15, 1977, in Ann Arbor, Mich., at the age of 14. “I was walking along my paper route, delivering papers in the afternoon, and a boy in the neighborhood went crazy, got his father’s deer rifle, and began shooting people,” said Father Donahue, who was shot twice. “I have all kinds of damage to my lungs, spinal cord and muscles.”
Despite the daily, sometimes agonizing pain, Father Donahue, 63, moves about with a cheerful smile and gentle touch, alternating between walking with two canes or using a wheelchair that he keeps under the balcony steps next to the narthex. He harbors no bitterness against the man responsible for his suffering, and who only served three years in prison for his crime.
“It’s a miracle that I’m alive,” he said. “I attribute that to the anointing of the sick after my injury. That sacrament touches a person’s soul and gives them grace to endure suffering. My mom and dad also had a great influence on me. They’re not bitter and so they’ve helped me not to be bitter as well.”
Helping others to face suffering has always been a special calling for Father Donahue. “Suffering is a very, very hard thing, but I hope people realize that they can be purified by the experience,” he said. “They can grow closer to God. It gives them a chance to abandon themselves.”
Sister Karol Marie Hegarty of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist — nuns who have lived at St. Philip since 2006 — said that Father Donahue “has mentored many young priests over the years and will continue to serve the diocese through spiritual direction. He is a wounded healer and a witness to spiritual maturity through suffering,” she said.
It is his simple kindness that has made Father Donahue such a cherished priest, said Father Horace “Tuck” Grinnell, who will live alongside Father Donahue at the St. Rose of Lima Retirement Villa in Annandale. “People are also drawn to him by his humility,” he said. “They admire all that he has physically overcome to minister to them.”
As he thinks about his final days in parish ministry, Father Donahue was eager to reminisce about the five churches he’s served. “My first parish was St. Agnes (Arlington, 1990-94) and that was a very supportive place to form your identity as a priest,” he said. “At St. Louis (Alexandria, 1994-96), I got to know the Poor Clares, and at St. Anthony (Falls Church, 1996-2000), I began in Hispanic ministry and I’ve been involved ever since. At St. Rita (Alexandria, 2000-10), I was very involved in the school with principal Mary Pat Schlickenmaier.”
“At St. Philip (2010-present), I’d say the word is discipleship, as we’ve learned how to know and follow Jesus,” he said. “We’ve been through various iterations of trying to become better disciples. And it’s been a joy getting to know the Franciscan sisters, especially during this jubilee year of St. Francis.”
Father Donahue’s message to all he’s served is that God is good. “Even when bad things happen to us and we don’t understand why, he is good,” he said. “I’m very grateful to be a priest and to have shared Jesus with so many people. I would not mind being a monk or a hermit, so a life of prayer, study, saying Mass — just praying for the needs of the diocese — the needs of the world, is something that appeals to me. I’m excited about the next chapter.”
