(DePaul University/Jamie Moncrief)
Vincentian priests Rev. Robert Gielow, C.M., Rev. Hugh O'Donnell, C.M., and Rev. Robert Rohrich, C.M., are celebrating their jubilees this spring — 50, 60, and 60 years, respectively. All three entered the novitiate of the Vincentian community at St. Mary's of the Barrens Seminary in Perryville, Mo., and their ministerial appointments have taken them through parts of Missouri, Illinois, Colorado, Arizona, and even Taiwan.
Rev. Robert Gielow, C.M.Rev. Robert Gielow, C.M., and his twin brother, Rev. Richard Gielow, C.M., were born in LaSalle, Ill., on Oct. 29, 1943. Their family belonged to St. Patrick Church, a Vincentian Parish. Both entered St. Mary of the Barrens Seminary in Perryville, Mo., on June 17, 1961.
Fr. Robert Gielow was ordained one year after his brother at DeAndreis Seminary in Lemont, Ill., on May 22, 1971, by Bishop William McManus. His ministry included teaching at Regina Cleri Seminary in Tucson, Ariz., and work in campus ministry at DePaul University, where he served as director of athletics from 1975 to 1982. Starting in 1983, Fr. Gielow served four years as vocation director for the province. In 1987, he joined his brother, Fr. Richard Gielow, in the work of preaching Parish Missions, based in Independence, Mo., and continues to minister as a parish missioner today.
Rev. Hugh O'Donnell, C.M.Rev. Hugh O'Donnell, C.M., was born on Oct. 30, 1934, in Chicago, Ill., and belonged with his family to St. Vincent de Paul Parish in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. He entered St. Mary of the Barrens Seminary in Perryville, Mo., on May 30, 1952, where he also completed his seminary education and was ordained on May 28, 1961, by Archbishop Joseph Ritter.
After ordination, Fr. O'Donnell earned a Doctor of Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland and taught in the major seminaries of St. Louis and Denver for 12 years. In 1978, he was elected provincial of the Midwest Province and served for nine years, after which he went back to Denver to teach and be involved in the formation of priests. He was called back into administrative service in 1993 with an appointment as provincial superior of the Province of China. When Fr. O'Donnell's term ended, he continued to work as a missionary in Taiwan.
In 2000, he was assigned to the DePaul Vincentian Residence in Chicago, where he ran programs for the priests and religious of mainland China.
Rev. Robert Rohrich, C.M.Rev. Robert Rohrich, C.M., was born on June 28, 1934, in Chicago, Ill., where his family attended St. Gertrude Parish on Chicago's North Side. He entered the seminary at St. Mary of the Barrens in Perryville, Mo., on May 30, 1952, and was ordained there on May 28, 1961, by Archbishop Joseph Ritter.
Fr. Rohrich spent 18 years in the teaching ministry at St. Louis Prep Seminary and Regina Cleri Seminary in Tucson, Ariz. He later taught graduate students Church history and served as dean of students at DeAndreis Seminary in Lemont, Ill. He returned to the high school level in 1973 when he joined the faculty and was also assigned rector and superior of St. Vincent de Paul High School Seminary in Lemont, Ill.
In 1979, Fr. Rohrich took a new direction in his ministry, becoming a marriage and family counselor. He continues in this work today in the southwest suburbs of Chicago.
A Take Note item in the June 17 Newsline incorrectly reported the dates of Fr. Gielow's entering seminary and ordination. We regret the errors.