Patrick J. Sullivan

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This article is about the Catholic priest, for the football player and coach, see Pat Sullivan.

The Very Reverend Patrick J. Sullivan (born 1938 - died November 19, 2007 in Pelham) was the founding pastor of St Patrick's Catholic Church in Adamsville and also served as pastor of St Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in Hoover and St Francis Xavier Catholic Church on Montclair Road in Birmingham.

Sullivan was ordained in Ireland and arrived in Alabama in 1963. For the next five years he traveled between 12 missions in North Alabama under the auspices of the Diocese of Birmingham. In 1968 he returned to the Catholic University for a master's degree in marriage counseling. When he returned to Birmingham he created the Diocese's family life bureau, which he headed from 1970 to 1978.

In the late 1970s Sullivan took charge of the task of closing and consolidating four Catholic churches in Graysville, Brookside, Pratt City and Hillview into the new St Patrick's Catholic Church in Adamsville. Before he left he led the church to complete a $3 million campus.

In 1989 Sullivan took over the pulpit at St Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in Hoover. There he oversaw the completion of a new $7 million sanctuary. Then, just as he arrived at St Francis Xavier, that church was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. He led another $7 million rebuilding campaign and stayed with the church until his retirement on July 1, 2007. He was succeeded by Robert J. Sullivan.

Sullivan, who suffered from cancer, died at his home in Pelham.

References

  • Garrison, Greg (November 20, 2007) Rev. Patrick J. Sullivan, church builder, dies." Birmingham News.
  • Garrison, Greg (June 8, 2007) "Sullivan to step down as St. Francis Xavier pastor." Birmingham News.