 Fr. Barnabas William Curtin, OP
Thirty-five years a Dominican and twenty-seven years a priest, William Barnabas Curtin
died at St. Dominic's in San Francisco on May 21, 1987.
"Barny" was born to
William and Kathleen Curtin on September 24, 1930, in San Francisco and was baptized one month later in St. Philip's Church,
his family's parish. He attended St. Philip's
Grade School, among others, and then several of The City's high schools, including Sacred
Heart. He entered the University of
California, Berkeley, in 1949, and after three years there, offered his life in service to
the Lord by entering the Dominican Novitiate in Kentfield, California. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 10, 1960.
He served in a variety of locales throughout the
province, his longest terms of ministry being in Holy
Rosary, Portland, and St. Dominic's, San Francisco.
While in Portland, he taught theology at Marylhurst College and served as secretary
of the Commission on Christian Unity. He also
served on the Marriage Tribunal there and wrote several articles for America magazine,
which anticipated the Church's later more liberal attitude toward annulments.
Barnabas had a quick and ready mind, and a passion for matters theological. Toward the end of his life, his chief concern was
with Faith, how to define it in terms of contemporary significance. His concern was not simply speculative. Especially in his last year, as he realized the
imminence of his death, he found his own faith severely tried. In his own words, all he could do was "wait in
the dark and trust.” Throughout his
religious and priestly life, Barnabas suffered, sometimes acutely, from mental distress,
but that same faith that carried him into death and beyond was with him all through his
illness. In spite of darkness, he kept hoping
for the light. And though he himself
experienced little enough of it, his compassion, his preaching and counseling brought
light to many in need of it. In the end, he
thought of himself as a failed priest. Those
who knew him best knew better.
--Father Fabian Parmisano, O.P. |
