AFFIRMING A PRIESTHOOD, ROOTED IN A REFORMED AND RENEWED CHURCH

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Carney, John

Los Angeles, CA
August 20, 1904

John "Pat" Carney, 78, of Minneapolis died in Los Angeles. John grew up in the Midwest; and along with his brother Jim, became a Jesuit. Together they were ordained in 1961 and immediately were missioned to Honduras. After of couple of years he resigned from the Jesuits. In 1967 he married a physician Barbara Biery, and together they nurtured three children, Clare, Jim and Kaiti. John was a social worker in elementary and secondary schools in St. Paul. He was Montessori-trained and founder of a Montessori school.

John's earlier experience in Colombia and Honduras anchored a lifelong solidarity with the peasants of Latin America. In 1983 the martyrdom of his brother Jim "Guadalupe" Carney in Honduras galvanized John into further sustained action to help the poor there. With his siblings and their spouses, he spent many years getting the story of Jim's life and death known. In 1998 John and Barbara retired to California.

John was a big man--physically, intellectually, spiritually. He was a man with strong convictions and a passion for the poor. His family and friends memorialized him in a rich liturgy in Minneapolis.