A funeral Mass for Father G. Paul Herbert, recently retired after more than 10 years as pastor of St. Ignatius Church in Fort Washington /Oxon Hill, Maryland, will be held on Sept. 15 at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington.
Father Herbert, 71, who died Sept. 9 at Adventist Healthcare White Oak Medical Center in Silver Spring, Maryland, had been a pastor, a Tribunal judge, an Air Force Reserve chaplain and a hospital administrator at various stages of his priesthood and professional life. He retired in 2019.
Like others who spoke fondly of him, Rosemary Caller, a member of St. Ignatius Parish, recalled Father Herbert’s skill as an administrator and his “wry, dry sense of humor.”
“He was an absolutely wonderful administrator,” Caller told the Catholic Standard. “He saw things that needed to be done, and he did them.”
She said she and fellow parishioners – notably the other daily Mass-goers – appreciated his gentle teasing. “He had a very dry and quiet sense of humor. He had great fun teasing the older ladies – and I’m one of them – who go to daily Mass. And they loved it.”
Caller added, “I think he was the older brother I never had.” Their friendship continued after his retirement, with Caller sometimes driving him to medical appointments, she said, noting that he had struggled with health complications for several years.
Born Nov. 20, 1949, in Buffalo, New York, Father Herbert was ordained for the Archdiocese of Washington on May 17, 1986, at the age of 36. Caller said he had worked as a hospital administrator in Buffalo and at Georgetown University Hospital before he became a priest.
Long before joining the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, Father Herbert was in the novitiate of the Pallottine Society from 1969-1971. In the summer of 1983 he was part of the Chaplain Candidate program of the United States Air Force. In 1987, he became a chaplain in the Air Force Reserve Program.
Father George Stuart, vice chancellor for the archdiocese, told of Father Herbert coming into his office one day to show off a new Air Force uniform, camouflage in shades of blue. “I am a Navy veteran myself, and I laughed and said, ‘Why do you people need a camouflage uniform? So that people won’t be able to see you when you fall out of the sky?’ But I laughed too soon, because the Navy soon had a camouflage uniform, since it had become a fad.”
Father Herbert attended St. Pius X Seminary in Erlanger, Kentucky, Holy Apostles College in Cromwell, Connecticut, and St. Mary Seminary in Cleveland. He earned his degree in canon law at The Catholic University of America.
While serving in parish roles, Father Herbert also worked in the archdiocesan marriage Tribunal, serving as a judge there beginning in 1992 and then as a defender of the bond, beginning in 2009. Msgr. Charles Antonicelli, now pastor of Our Lady of Mercy in Potomac, Maryland, formerly headed the tribunal when he was Vicar for Canonical Services. Working with Father Herbert, he came to appreciate that priest's sense of humor, but also his kindness in working with couples who were going through the process of marriage annulment.
“I remember him being very pastoral with the couples who were going through a very difficult time,” Msgr. Antonicelli said.
After his ordination, Father Herbert served as a parochial vicar at St. Patrick Church in Rockville, Maryland (1986), at St. Hugh Parish in Greenbelt, Maryland (1992), and at St. Matthew Cathedral (1996). He also was named administrator, pro tem, for Holy Face Parish in Great Mills, Maryland (1999), and as administrator, pro tem, at St. Joseph Parish in Washington (2002).
Father Herbert was pastor of Our Lady of the Presentation Parish in Poolesville, Maryland, from 2004, and then became pastor of St. Ignatius Parish from 2009 until his retirement.
Another St. Ignatius parishioner, Billy Robey, concurred with Caller about Father Herbert’s skill as an administrator. “We were in debt when he got here, and he got us into good shape,” said Robey, who was plant foreman at the parish while Father Herbert was pastor.
Robey recalled that Father Herbert remained close with friends from his childhood in Buffalo, regularly driving to New York to meet them to fly together to spend a vacation in Florida.
A vigil for Father Herbert will be held Tuesday, Sept. 14, at the Cathedral of Saint Matthew the Apostle, from 2-5 p.m. with a vigil Mass at 5:30 p.m. The funeral Mass will be at the cathedral at 10 a.m., the following day, Sept. 15, with interment to follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Silver Spring, Maryland.
