May 11th, 2022 marks an important milestone in the life of our very own Fr. Scott.

In 1982, he became “Father Scott” when he formally said yes to a life of priestly ministry. Fr. Scott was ordained 40 years ago today at Mundelein Seminary. He was soon assigned to St. Barnabas Parish in the Beverly neighborhood where he served as an Associate Pastor. In 1984, Fr. Scott was elected to a two-year term as Vice Chairman of the Association of Chicago Priests. Joseph Cardinal Bernardin appointed him Vocations Director for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1985, a position he served for 10 years. He was assigned to St. Juliana’s as a resident priest in 1987. Since 1996, he has been a resident priest at St. Robert Bellarmine on the Northwest Side.

For 32 of his 40 years in priestly ministry, Fr. Scott has worked with Mercy Home, joining our Board of Regents in 1990 and later serving as assistant to its president. In 2006, after ten years of service as Mercy Home’s Associate President, he was appointed as the Home’s eighth President since our founding in 1887. Fr. Scott said that to be a parish priest, while also serving in a specialized ministry that saves young lives, is “a gift from God.”

He’s still grateful every day that he said yes 40 years ago, describing his ministry as a wonderful, though often challenging experience. As a priest, he said, you companion with people in the most wonderful moments of life and in the most difficult moments as well. “If you’re a good companion,” he said, “you’re a good priest.”