Priest to Be Honored for 50 Years’ Service

Santa Clara Church in Oxnard will honor its senior priest this weekend for 50 years of pastoral service.

The church will celebrate Msgr. Charles O’Gorman’s five decades in the priesthood with a Jubilee Mass and reception at 5 p.m. Saturday and a Mass of Thanksgiving at 3 p.m. Sunday at the church, 323 South E St.

Ordained in 1949, O’Gorman, 75, came to the United States from Ireland to serve in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Los Angeles.

From 1957 to 1977, he served as a Navy chaplain in Texas, Japan, Rhode Island, Vietnam and at Point Mugu Naval Air Station. While in Vietnam, he earned the Bronze Star and organized social welfare programs. He retired as a commander in 1977.

O’Gorman was appointed administrator for Santa Clara Church in 1978 and became its pastor in 1979 and senior priest in 1990. Msgr. Peter Nugent succeeded O’Gorman as pastor in 1990.

During O’Gorman’s tenure, the congregation has grown from 3,000 to 4,000 families and its membership has become more diverse.