Priests honor Msgr. Bircumshaw as he retires
MIDWAY — While at their annual retreat in Midway June 4-6, priests of the Diocese of Salt Lake City took time to honor one of their own. Monsignor Colin F. Bircumshaw is retiring July 31 after 49 years of priesthood, the last 13 of which have been as the diocese’s vicar general, and his peers could not let it happen without poking some good-natured fun at one of their beloved leaders.
They were led by Vicar for Clergy Father Kenneth Vialpando, who has developed a reputation as the man to call on when a roast is in order. As usual, Fr. Vialpando did not disappoint, highlighting among other attributes the monsignor’s role as “enforcer” of the Pastoral Directives.
His comments drew gales of laughter from his peers.
Msgr. Bircumshaw has “got his hand and knee written all over,” Fr. Vialpando said as he held up a copy of the Pastoral Directives. “He’s got his handprint, footprint, written from the first page to the last; he knows this book. If you ever wonder what he does at night: he reviews this book over so that he can enforce the law with us.”
To the delight of the monsignor and his brethren, Fr. Vialpando then recited a modified version of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” to reflect this role of Msgr. Bircumshaw’s.
After all the joking was done, Fr. Vialpando grew more serious as he honored the man he has considered his mentor since taking his position as vicar of clergy five years ago.
“Msgr. Bircumshaw, you have been an enforcer, but most importantly, you’ve been an encourager,” he said. “You’ve encouraged us; you’ve empowered us to be the best priests that we can be. I cannot thank you enough for being a leader, a guide, a guardian, a protector, a mentor, a friend and brother. You have done an excellent job, you have set the example for us, you have raised the bar. Msgr. Bircumshaw’s concern is not exactly when to enforce the letter of the law and when to provide the spirit of the law, it is knowing exactly when to be firm and when to be gentle. All of us have seen both sides, and we cannot thank you enough; we are going to be forever grateful.”
Bishop Oscar A. Solis added his praise for Msgr. Bircumshaw.
“We thank you so deeply; you are a teacher,” the bishop told the vicar general. “We have a true servant of God who has dedicated all your life for God and for the people here in Utah. I treasure his wisdom and his background and understanding of the Church that helped me decide the vision of our local Church here in Utah. Thank you so much for your understanding and patience, but most of all for your deep sense of obedience, obedience and simplicity and the radical love of God, the love of the people that allows you to be able to carry on your responsibility with such exceptional capability.”
Father Martin Diaz, chairman of the liturgical committee that planned the retreat and rector of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, presented Msgr. Bircumshaw with several gifts from his brother priests, among them dice with ideas for how to spend his time in retirement and a new swimsuit to help make them a reality.
As has been the case many times over the last 13 years, Msgr. Bircumshaw had the last word.
“One thing I’m thrilled about is that I’ve had 13 years that I survived,” he said. “And [that] I don’t have to do the 20 years that Monsignor [J. Terrence] Fitzgerald served as vicar general and vicar for clergy and moderator of the curia and so many things. Essentially, it’s been a great privilege. It’s not something I ever thought I would wind up doing; something I would have dreaded if I thought about that. But it has been an enormous blessing in many ways that helped me to grow as a priest.”
“It’s like being a pastor in many ways,” he added. “As pastors we get to see the people in their most rich faith moments. We’re really privileged to see how God works in the lives of his people. As vicar general I got to see a lot of that in the priests of the diocese. So thank you for your support in these years.”
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