Catholic Charities Providing help. Creating hope.

Father McNamara honored
at Venetian Charity Ball

By Judy Bokorney
Web Site Editor


Very Reverend Stephen E. McNamara, known as Father Ed, did not know that when he was asked to establish a new parish in Fort Myers in 1974 that the assignment would become his life.

Father McNamara not only was the founding pastor of Resurrection of Our Lord Parish, he is the church’s only pastor. He has served the parish and the Fort Myers community with humility and compassion for the past 30 years.

Father McNamara was honored at the 2005 Annual Venetian Charity Ball in February, which benefits Catholic Charities of Lee County, for his contribution and commitment to people in need.

Born January 12, 1942 in Ennis, Ireland, Father McNamara never really had it in his mind to become a priest. “In the old days, in every Irish family someone was chosen as a child to become a priest. My younger brother T.J. was earmarked for the priesthood,” said Father McNamara. “But it didn’t turn out that way.”

Ironically his father was cast for the priesthood too. “Then he met my mother,” he said. Father McNamara’s parents ran a grocery store in his hometown and put him to work there along with his three brothers and one sister. Beginning at age four he weighed tea and sugar in the back or manned the counter in the front. He worked there until he was eighteen and then left home to embark on his journey into the priesthood. However the road was not an easy one.

Father McNamara began to consider a religious life at 14 when he applied to the Christian Brothers. “They did not accept me,” he said. “They did not think that I was brother material.”

Father McNamara then focused on the priesthood. “In the 50s and 60s the seminaries were filled to capacity. It was not easy to get in. My seminary of choice was filled up, so I applied to a little known seminary run by the Trappist Monk’s at Mt. Melleray. They accepted me and I embarked on my philosophical studies,” he said.

“However during my studies there I developed tuberculosis and it appeared my hopes of the priesthood were over. My family thought I should pursue another career. But despite losing a year, I persevered and here I am,” Father McNamara said.

In 1963, Father McNamara applied to his seminary of choice, St. Patrick’s College Carlow, and was accepted. There he studied theology. Father McNamara’s diocese in Ireland had a surplus of priests, so he opted for a missionary assignment. “I thought of joining my uncle who was a priest in Nigeria, Africa but on his and other recommendations, Florida was decided to be more suitable for me,” he said. “They must have had my golf interest in mind.”

On June 10, 1967, Father McNamara was ordained by Bishop Patrick Leenon, D.D., for the Archdiocese of St. Augustine and was given his first job at St. Martha Parish and Cardinal Mooney High School in Sarasota. In 1971 he served at St. Cecilia’s in Clearwater and in 1972 at St. Cecilia’s and Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers. Then in 1974 he became the founding pastor of Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in Fort Myers.

“There has been a lot of growth here in Fort Myers over the years,” he said. Three churches have split from Resurrection Parish: St. Columbkille, Our Lady of Light and Blessed Pope John the XXIII. Resurrection started with only 300 families in 1974 and now has over 3,000 families who are members.

What is Father McNamara’s philosophy about being a parish priest? “I always put my arms around my parishioners and make them feel that this is their home,” he said. “The people of God who come here have so much faith. They only need me to reassure them.”

Father McNamara also extends that compassion to the community beyond the parish. He and his parishioners always have been solid supporters of Catholic Charities.

“Father McNamara is an institution in Fort Myers,” said Peter Routsis-Arroyo, president of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Venice. “He has been in the forefront in many efforts to help the poor. It is that body of work we are honoring,” he said.

“I never dreamed that I would be dealing with people in such a spiritual level at their most serious points in their lives. I had no idea how fulfilling this career would be when I was in the seminary. It has been a beautiful experience,” he said.

Outside of the priesthood, Father McNamara still loves the game of golf and spending time with his new boxer puppy Mack O’Brien, who replaced Jack O’Brien after 12 years of companionship.