Rev. William D. Byrne (pastor, 2007-15)
Among his many side gigs while at St. Peter’s, Fr. Bill Byrne wrote a weekly column for the Catholic Standard called “5 Things”: nuggets of information and advice in an easily digestible format. In that spirit, we offer 5 things you might like to know about our 21st pastor.
1. He’s a local boy from a big family. Born Sept. 26, 1964, Fr. Byrne is a Washington native, the youngest of eight siblings – his parents and various members of his family occasionally came to Mass and other events at St. Peter’s. Ordained a priest of the Washington Archdiocese in 1994, he was an assistant at two parishes and spent eight years as a chaplain at the University of Maryland before becoming pastor of St. Peter’s in July 2007.
2. As a pastor, he was busy . . . and then some. Like pastors before him, Fr. Byrne spent a lot of time caring for the physical plant – shepherding the installation of new altar furnishings and overseeing repairs to damages caused by the 2011 earthquake. Naturally, he also tended to the parish’s spiritual life. Among other efforts, he helped initiate St. Peter’s relationship with its twin parish in Haiti, Notre Dame d’Altagrace.
For most of his years at St. Peter’s, however, Fr. Byrne was a half-time pastor, serving the other half as secretary for pastoral ministry and social concerns for the archdiocese. As if those two jobs were not enough, he also taught a course in homiletics to seminarians at the North American College in Rome, was in great demand as a speaker and a board member, and wrote his “5 Things” column (which subsequently became a book and a YouTube series).
3. He has an open, exuberant spirit. Fr. Byrne is a big man with a big personality, quick with a joke, often at his own expense. His default frame of mind is joy, and that joy informs his preaching, at which he is supremely gifted.
He also has a good heart. Long-time parishioners will remember his kindness to Fr. Michael O’Sullivan, a former pastor who left St. Peter’s before he wanted to. Fr. Byrne welcomed Fr. Mike back at every opportunity, dedicated the refurbished meeting room in the rectory to him, was with him when he died, and preached at his funeral. We also remember Maurice Hawkins, known to many as Mo, a formerly homeless man who was a familiar presence at St. Peter’s. Fr. Byrne preached at his funeral too.
4. He LOVES his dogs. Fr. Byrne came to St. Peter’s as part of a package deal. Two lovely black Labrador retrievers, Maggie and Cleo, moved into the rectory with him and quickly became like members of the parish. He doted on them, and they on him. A few years later, after Cleo had passed, another black Lab, Mary Cole, an older rescue, joined Maggie. And after both of them were gone, a stately boxer named Roo became part of the St. Peter’s family. It goes without saying that, when Fr. Byrne moved on, Roo went with him.
5. He's going places. You wouldn’t have to know Fr. Byrne long before you might think to yourself, “This man’s going to be a bishop some day.” And you would be right. He left St. Peter’s in 2015 to become pastor of Our Lady of Mercy in Potomac, Md. In 2020 he was named bishop of Springfield, Mass., the second pastor in St. Peter’s history to be so honored.
Bishop Byrne, we pray that you will be a wise leader of our church. We can assume that you are a busy, joyful one.