BELMONT — Benedictine Father Francis Phillip Forster, a monk and priest of Belmont Abbey, died peacefully in the Lord on Thursday, May 11, 2023. He was 90.
The body will be received at Belmont Abbey at 7 p.m. Monday, May 15, 2023, followed by vespers and visitation. The rosary will be recited at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in Mary Help of Christians Basilica on the campus of Belmont Abbey, followed by the funeral Mass at 9:30 a.m. Burial will follow at the abbey cemetery.
Father Francis was born Sept. 2, 1932, in Willard, Ohio, the youngest of five children. He spent his early years on the family farm. After graduating from high school, he served in the U.S. Air
Force from 1951 to 1955 during the Korean Conflict, achieving the rank of staff sergeant. Following his discharge, he entered Belmont Abbey College, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy in 1960.
While in college, he entered the novitiate at Belmont Abbey and made his profession of vows on July 11, 1958. He was ordained a priest on June 4, 1964.
Father Francis served for 51 years in the faculty and administration of Belmont Abbey College, from 1958 to 2009. His first appointment was as instructor in the Department of Philosophy. He then served for many years as registrar and director of institutional research, then as director of data processing.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Philip F. Forster and Frances Leitz Forster, and his three brothers, Bernard Forster, Robert Forster and Eugene Forster.
He is survived by the monks of Belmont Abbey; his sister, Mary Ann Forster; and numerous nieces and nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews.
Memorial donations may be made to: Belmont Abbey College, 100 Belmont-Mt. Holly Road, Belmont, N.C. 28012.
Condolence messages may be shared at www.McLeanFuneral.com.
McLean Funeral Directors of Belmont is in charge of the arrangements.
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Read more about Father Francis Forster’s life at Belmont Abbey: https://belmontabbey.org/our-monks/
SYLVA — Father James P. Cahill, 93, passed away Wednesday, April 19, 2023, at his residence.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 25, 2023, at St. Margaret of Scotland Catholic Church, located at 37 Murphy Dr. in Maggie Valley. Inurnment will follow the Mass at St. Margaret’s Columbarium.
A native of Philadelphia, Pa., he was born Sept. 12, 1929, the youngest child of the late Joseph and Helen (Hentschel) Cahill.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from Boston College before entering the Jesuits in 1947, studying at the adjoining Jesuit seminary, Weston College (now Weston Jesuit School of
Theology) in Cambridge, Mass. He was ordained a priest on June 17, 1961, by Cardinal Richard Cushing, Archbishop of Boston.
He served in the Diocese of Charlotte for several years, first at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte from 1986 to 1991, and then as pastor of St. Mary Mother of God Catholic Church in Sylva from 1991 until his retirement in 2002. He also served as vicar forane of the Smoky Mountains Vicariate, where he helped as needed in parishes.
Upon retirement, he gave the homily at the diocese’s annual priest jubilarian Mass, where he said a priest’s ministry is about sharing God’s love, peace and joy with others. “If I can take God’s peace and His love, and the joy of being with Christ, and convey that to another human being, I feel that my life as a priest is doing something remarkable.”
Those who knew Father Cahill knew he had a favorite phrase: “ORP,” or “old retired priest.”
In addition to his parents, Father Cahill was preceded in death by his siblings, one sister and two brothers.
Wells Funeral Home of Waynesville is in charge of arrangements.
— Catholic News Herald