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After nearly 50 years as a parish priest, Fr Wayne Healey is retiring on Sunday.
His successor will be Fr Fredy Permentilla.
A younger priest will be “refreshing”, Healey says.
Although he’s retiring in one sense, Healey (pictured) has no thoughts of sitting on his hands for the rest of his life. He has plans.
The North Otago stalwart (17 of his 50 years have been spent there) says his retirement on 12 March won’t mean he’ll stop serving.
He’ll still be doing the work of a Catholic priest- but without the responsibilities that fall on a parish priest’s shoulders.
He mentions helping various committees, visiting rest-homes and performing weddings, funerals and baptisms.
Healey says the people he has met through his work as a priest inspired him and his time was “richly blessed”.
He’s also had some unique experiences. One of the most notable was performing the first baptism of the millennium, in Alexandra, shortly after 12am on 1 January 2000.
A highlight comes from from his time as chaplain to Oamaru’s St Joseph’s School and St Kevin’s College. Although originally apprehensive about being a school chaplain, he found himself being inspired by the young adults he worked with.
Asked how he feels about his upcoming retirement, Healey says he feels “ambivalent”.
Despite the mixed emotions, he said he would rather be asked “Why did you resign?” rather than “When are you going to resign?”
In thanking his parishioners for their kindness and goodwill towards him, he said: “I have been richly blessed and inspired by young and old and hopefully that will continue into the future.
“We’re all on a journey together, no matter who we are. And if we can give a little support to each other, then our lives are not in vain.”
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