Petition pulls for St. Mary’s pastor to return following surgery

LYNN – The Rev. Michael Ferraro said it will be a “miracle” if he returns to St. Mary’s Church following medical leave, but at least one Lynn resident wants to make the miracle a reality.Although she said she does not attend Mass regularly at the South Common Street church, Marie Donatelli said her friendship with the 73-year-old Catholic priest prompted her and other people who know Ferraro to gather names on a petition supporting his return to St. Mary’s.Donatelli said she will send the petition to the Archdiocese of Boston’s administrative offices.”I have five pages signed. Father Mike’s wish is to stay here; that’s what we’re asking,” she said.Ferraro on Wednesday said the petition drive “has nothing to do with me,” but added he would like to return to St. Mary’s following surgery on his left knee and right shoulder. He plans to recuperate at his family’s home in Everett, where his sister and nephew live.”It would be a miracle if I could still work here,” he said.The Rev. Brian Flynn, St. Mary’s pastor, said, “I know it’s been a difficult situation for Father Mike and others, but I’m pleased the Archdiocese has been in contact with him and is trying to help him during the time of transition.”Ferraro has been assigned to St. Mary’s since 1988 and for Donatelli and other people who know him, Ferraro is the driving force behind the church food pantry located in the St. Mary’s chapel basement. His daily van trips to pick up food for the pantry include stops at the Lynnway Honey Dew Donuts where Donatelli works.”Sometimes he just comes in for coffee and to talk to us. If he’s gone, I’ll be concerned for the pantry,” she said.Ferraro grew up in Everett, the son of Italian parents who spoke their native language at home. He said he “felt the calling” to become a priest during his youth and applied for college before making his mind up about the priesthood. He earned a degree in business administration at Boston College.”I said if I still had the calling after graduation, I would go across the street to St. John’s Seminary,” he said.He was ordained on May 29, 1968, and his first assignment was the former St. John Vianney parish in Point of Pines. He was subsequently assigned to St. Anthony of Padua in Revere and assigned to hospital ministry in 1973.Ferraro’s ministry expanded to a Massachusetts National Guard chaplaincy in 1981 and he retained that ministry until 1991, even after he was assigned to St. Mary’s. He has also served as Lynn Fire Department chaplain, and Donatelli said petition signers in support of Ferraro’s eventual return to St. Mary’s include local firefighters.Ferraro said his involvement in the food pantry began early in his tenure at St. Mary’s, when clergy from churches across Lynn called for an initiative to defeat hunger locally.”I think I was called to do what Jesus did: People needed help, I responded,” he said.Initial hunger-fighting efforts led, Ferraro said, to the formation of a dozen currently active local food distribution centers.”The need is being met, but people don’t get enough,” he said.St. Mary’s parishioners know Ferraro through his joke telling as well as his food pantry work. He credits his late father, Rocco, who spent time in theaters, with giving him the urge to make people laugh.Ferraro said he is waiting for Archdiocesan officials to give him written permission to go on medical leave. His plans beyond the time he spends recuperating with his sister and nephew are, to date, uncertain.”I’ll be a priest in limbo,” he said.Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected].