Fr. Dennis O’Rourke, VF

From Boy Scouts to parishioners, Cave Creek priest forms disciples

By Joyce Coronel | Oct. 1, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

Growing up in Massachusetts and attending 12 years of Catholic school, Fr. Dennis O’Rourke sensed a call to the priesthood early in life.

“I think every boy who grew up in the ’60s sensed the call when they were in grade school,” Fr. O’Rourke said. “The pastor always asked us if we wanted to be priests, especially since I was an altar server. The seed was planted, as it was in every other young boy when I was young.”

Fr. O’Rourke attended Christ the King seminary in East Aurora, N.Y., and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Worcester in 1980.  He came to the Phoenix Diocese in 1992 and served his first assignment at St. Daniel the Prophet in Scottsdale.

He was pastor of St. Benedict Parish for eight years before being named pastor of St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish in Cave Creek, where he has seen the parish grow from 1,000 families at his arrival to more than 1,600 today. He is dean of the northeast, which encompasses 16 parishes and three missions.

New to St. Gabriel’s this year is the presence of Annunciation School, which currently has a first and second grade, and will add a third grade next year.

“Hi, Fr. Dentist,” a little girl said shyly as he strolled past the entrance to the school. Parishioners know him as “Fr. Dennis,” so it’s not the first time he’s heard the comical mispronunciation of his name. He has a special place in his heart for young people.

In fact, as he looks back over his priesthood and the many people he has come to know in his ministry, the thing that really stands out in Fr. O’Rourke’s mind is his work with the Boy Scouts of America.

He’s been involved with Catholic scouting in one way or another since he was 7 and has served as the state chaplain to the group for years. “It’s life-giving for me,” he said. “It’s very rewarding and gives me the opportunity to relate with youth and challenge them in their faith directly.”

The untold story, one that should cause Church leaders to sit up and take notice, is that lots of vocations are coming directly from the Boy Scouts.

Fr. O’Rourke said he knows of at least 20 priests who can trace their vocation to involvement with scouting. For the last 23 years, Fr. O’Rourke has worked as chaplain at the National Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. He gets to know the young men there, hearing their confessions and counseling them, especially when it comes to vocations.

“It’s amazing how many kids come out of there,” he said. “At least four of them were staff members I saw over the course of two or three summers.” 

The wall in Fr. O’Rourke’s office at St. Gabriel is covered with certificates and awards he’s received from the organization over the years for his tireless effort on behalf of the Scouts.

In 2007, Fr. O’Rourke received the St. George Award from the National Catholic Committee on Scouting. The medal recognizes the work of adults who have made significant and outstanding contributions to the spiritual development of Catholic youths through scouting.

What are you passionate about as a priest?

Discipleship. People like to say they are followers of Christ, but my opinion is, I don’t think Jesus came to get followers, He came to get disciples. He wants you to walk with Him as a disciple at His side, not from a distance. Doing the things Jesus does, being His hands and feet — that’s part of my passion.  When you become a disciple, you become a steward, you care for the things Jesus cared for and the things that you have.

Did someone invite you to consider the priesthood?

Fr. Paul O’Connell was the first one to ask me. I was in sixth grade. I was an altar server and he was the associate. I have a cousin who’s a priest and who was ordained four months after I was born. He is a missionary priest — he’s been ordained 54 years. I didn’t know him much growing up because he was serving in Spain and then Argentina. 

What can families do to encourage more vocations to the priesthood?

I think family life is what’s missing and I think it’s rare that families do things as families these days. When I was a kid, we did stuff as a family. We went to church together and we ate together. My mother worked part time, but she worked when my dad was home. We ate as a family, we talked at table and that was really important to us. People need to give each other time. You need to make a commitment to be a family. Unfortunately, I think people are also missing a commitment to Church. It’s time to take back the culture, time to take back the family.