2025 -- S 1165

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

JOYOUSLY CELEBRATING THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORDINATION OF

     FATHER BERNARD A. HEALEY TO THE PRIESTHOOD ON JUNE 24, 2025

     Introduced By: Senator Walter S. Felag

     Date Introduced: June 20, 2025

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, Father Bernard A. Healey is a man of deep principles who has worked

tirelessly the past thirty years to bring God’s love and grace to all Rhode Islanders, especially

those who have found themselves living on the margins of society in poverty, sickness or in

personal despair. He has made immensely positive contributions to the quality of life in Rhode

Island and has graced the lives of innumerable Rhode Islanders; and

     WHEREAS, Father Bernard Healey was born in Providence, and raised in the Edgewood

section of Cranston, where he attended the public schools and attended Mass at St. Paul’s Church.

Father Bernard is the youngest of nine children of the late Rhode Island Family Court Justice

Edward V. Healey, Jr., and the late Lillian Healey; and

     WHEREAS, Father Healey is a 1987 graduate of Catholic University where he attained a

Bachelor of Arts in Politics degree. Father Healey completed his seminary and theological studies

at the American College, Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, where he attained a

Bachelor’s Degree and Master of Arts in Religious Studies; and

     WHEREAS, Father Healey was ordained into the Priesthood for the Diocese of

Providence, by the late Bishop of Providence, Louis Gelineau, on June 24, 1995, at the Nativity

of St. John the Baptist, and then proceeded to serve as the Associate Pastor at St. Mary, Star of

the Sea Church in Narragansett and St. Augustine Church in Providence. He also continued his

theological and canonical studies, earning both a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.)

specializing in the area of Moral Theology, and a Licentiate in Canon Law (J.C.L.) specializing

in the area of church-state relations from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven; and

     WHEREAS, In 2003, Father Healey was appointed by the late Bishop Robert Mulvee to

be the fourteenth Pastor of St. Ambrose Church in Albion, a position he held for nine years, until

he was appointed in 2012 by Bishop Emeritus Tobin to serve as the seventeenth Pastor of Our

Lady of Mercy Church in East Greenwich; and

     WHEREAS, Father Healey’s other duties include serving as the Chaplain of the Rhode

Island Capitol Police and the East Greenwich Police Department, and as the Theological

Consultant and Editorial Writer for the Rhode Island Catholic (previously known as the

Providence Visitor) the weekly diocesan newspaper, from 1998 to June of 2013. Since 1999,

Father Healey has served as the Chief Lobbyist to the Rhode Island General Assembly, and the

Director of the Rhode Island Catholic Conference. Father Healey serves on the Diocesan Board

of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the domestic anti-poverty program of the

U.S. Catholic Bishops; and

     WHEREAS, Father Healey is a former member of the Advisory Board of the Rhode

Island Catholic School Parents Federation, an advocacy group for Catholic School Families. He

has also served on the Boards of the Diocese of Providence’s Bishop Hendricken High School,

and the Prout School, is a founding member of the Rhode Island Scholarship Alliance, a group

that promotes school choice and educational opportunities for economically disadvantaged

students. Father Healey is also a member of the Canon Law Society of America, is a former board

member of the St. Thomas More Legal Society of Rhode Island, a former member of the Friendly

Sons of Saint Patrick of Providence, is a fourth-degree member of the Knights of Columbus, and

is a member of the Sons of Irish Kings and the Ancient Order of Hibernians of Newport; and

     WHEREAS, Father Healey has received numerous honors and awards in recognition of

his exemplary service, to include being invested as a Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy

Sepulchre of Jerusalem, the recipient of the Thomas Aquinas Award for Distinguished Service

and Advocacy on behalf of Catholic School Children from the Rhode Island Catholic School

Parents Federation, the St. George Emblem for his service and support of Catholic Scouting in the

Diocese of Providence, and the Defender of Life Award by the Rhode Island Right to Life

Committee; and

     WHEREAS, In his free time, Father Healey enjoys reading books about theology, Irish

history, political history, biographies and historical fiction, he is an avid film buff, enjoys most

forms of music, is an avid sports fan and enjoys following his beloved Boston Red Sox, New

England Patriots and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Team. He also enjoys spending time

visiting his friends in the priesthood across the United States and, as the youngest child in a large

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family, spending quality time with his many brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and grand-nieces

and nephews; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby joyously celebrates the

Thirtieth Anniversary of Father Bernard Healey’s Ordination to the Priesthood, on June 24, 2025;

and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Father Bernard A. Healey.

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