Widower, at Age 63, Devotes Golden Years to Priesthood

Ernest Montoya became a priest on Saturday in front of an emotional crowd of friends and family members--including his five children and nine grandchildren.

The silver-haired Montoya does not look the part of the typical newly ordained priest. On Saturday, the day of his ordination at Our Lady of Refuge Church in Long Beach, Montoya turned 63.

“Happy birthday, dear Ernieeee,” the congregation of more than 300 belted out to the strains of organ music.

And indeed, Montoya said afterward, “This is a very happy day for me.”

Montoya is part of a growing nationwide trend of older and widowed men entering the priesthood. According to Father Joseph Shea, director of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles Office of Vocation, the average age in the United States of a man undergoing seminary training is 30, compared to 18 two decades ago.

Still, there are not many widowers with grandchildren studying for the priesthood: For example, of the 130 men studying at St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, only two are in this category, said seminarian Charlie Goraieb.

“God works in strange ways,” said Montoya, who previously served as a deacon, an official of the church who can carry out many duties of a priest. “He has been preparing me for this for a long time.”

Montoya entered the seminary three years ago after his wife, Amy, died after a long battle with cancer.

“She brought up the subject of what I would do after she passed away. And we both decided that I would become a priest,” explained Montoya, a retired Long Beach mailman who had long been active in the Catholic church.

Santa Fe Archbishop Robert F. Sanchez, who flew in from New Mexico to conduct the ordination, told Montoya that his wife of 38 years “smiles upon you this day. You spoke about this many days before her death. Perhaps today her prayer is being fulfilled.”

Albuquerque Post

Montoya, a native of New Mexico, will be assigned as an assistant pastor to the Queen of Heaven parish in Albuquerque, and as a chaplain in a hospital, where he will tend to the sick because he is “a man who has great compassion,” Archbishop Sanchez told the congregation.

Montoya always wanted a priest in the family--as two of his four sons will attest.

“My older brother went into the seminary, and I went into the seminary. But we found out it wasn’t for us,” explained Montoya’s son, Rick, a Long Beach policeman.

Added his brother, Mushroom, an architect: “I figured girls were just too attractive.”

The two sons joined their siblings and other family members, as well as friends and neighbors, in expressing their joy that Ernie Montoya finally has a priest in the family--himself.

Montoya’s relatives and friends were not the only ones taking out tissues and handkerchiefs during the ceremony. “I was crying too,” Montoya said later.

Like other older men entering the priesthood, Montoya brings with him “more life experiences,” said Father Gregory Coiro, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. “The more varied one’s life experiences, the more enhanced one’s ministry becomes. For example, he knows what it’s like to be a widower. I’ll never know what that’s like.”

Declining Numbers

And in the Catholic church, where the numbers of men entering the priesthood have steadily decreased, all qualified, candidates are welcomed, said Coiro.

Last year, 10 men were ordained by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. This year, it will be four, next year 11 and in 1991, 17 are expected to become priests, according to Father Shea. About 1,280 priests serve 3.5 million Roman Catholics in the Los Angeles Archdiocese, Shea said.

Montoya said he looks forward to fulfilling his new role. And his children, who described their family as “very close,” said they won’t let their happiness and pride of dad get in the way of a good ribbing.

Explained Montoya’s son, Mushroom: “I told him that during a service, I’m going to be able to nudge some little old lady sitting next to me and say to her, ‘You see that priest up there? He got my mother pregnant.’ ”