New St. John Brebeuf Pastor Named

St. John Brebeuf Church's next pastor, Rev. Michael Meany, who will take the reins of the parish in July, came to the rectory in Niles Tuesday to meet with Rev. Tom May, the current pastor, and the staff.

Ironically, Meany served as a mentor to May. They worked together at St. Mary Star of the Sea parish on Chicago's southwest side when May was a deacon and Meany was a newly-ordained priest.

"He had a prominent role in forming me to be the priest that I am today," May wrote to parishioners in the bulletin for this upcoming weekend's Masses. 

When Meany arrives on July 1, May will transfer to St. Mary's Church in Riverside--the same place two of his SJB predecessors, Rev. Robert Banzin and Rev. Leon Wagner, transferred after completing their service at SJB.

Meany will become the fifth pastor of St. John Brebeuf parish. 

He comes to SJB from St. Damian's Church in Oak Forest, in the south suburbs, where he has served as pastor for 12 years. The parish has 4,200 families.

Prior to that, he was pastor of St. Clotilde church on Chicago's south side. 

May said he'll work with Meany to make the transition go smoothly. But May will have to pull up a lot of roots. 

"I feel very blessed to have received this assignment and I look forward to serving the community there, but it is certainly with mixed emotions that I leave you. I will most certainly miss you, whom I have grown to know and love over these past 13 years," he wrote to parishioners.