‘A message of hope’ Old Town native youngest man in nearly a decade to be ordained a priest in Maine

The Rev. Paul LaBree can’t point to one moment in his life and say, “That’s when I knew I wanted to be a priest.”

For the 31-year-old Old Town native, it was a longer process – a journey in which the destination was not clear until he was nearing its end.

“Father Paul” was ordained May 24 and celebrated his first Mass the next day at his home parish Holy Family Catholic Church, Old Town.

He is the youngest man to be ordained a priest in Maine in almost a decade. He is the first of three men scheduled be ordained by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland this summer.

David Raymond, 44, will be ordained June 7 at St. Luce Roman Catholic Church, Frenchville, and Kevin Martin, 32, will be ordained on July 19 at Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Caribou.

LaBree is the son of Bernard and Loretta LaBree. The family owns and operates LaBree’s Bakery in Old Town.

It was after he had transferred from UM to Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, that his vocation to the priesthood began to solidify, said Paul LaBree during an interview last week at his parents’ home.

He did mission work in Mexico and studied in Austria before completing both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in philosophy from the Ohio school.

He said he knew he was being called to the priesthood but was torn between becoming a diocesan priest and serving a church in Maine or joining an order. He felt drawn to the Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and the Franciscans. Yet, he knew firsthand from his own parish priest, the Rev. Robert Vaillancourt, and others the great joy of parish ministry.

“I felt that the life of simplicity – and the impact of doing little things with great love the way Mother Teresa did – would be a good model for one’s life in an order,” he said.

“But over the summer of 1999, I helped out Father John Austin [then the Catholic chaplain at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor] and that really clinched it for me. I saw that as a diocesan priest I could be among people in a more powerful way than I could as a religious priest” in an order.

His parents, active members at Holy Family, weren’t surprised.

“We suspected for a couple of years before he went into the seminary,” Bernard LaBree said, “but we wanted to let him alone, let the Holy Spirit work and have him make his own decision. We prayed for him.”

Paul LaBree asked his mentor Vaillancourt to “vest” him, or put the chasuble and stole on him, following the prayer of consecration. Vaillancourt, ordained 20 years ago, said he was honored to take part in the younger man’s ordination.

“Paul’s one of the most spiritual young men I know,” said Vaillancourt, 49, who is pastor at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Madawaska.

“He has a profound love for God and great love and respect for the church. Even though Paul is an introvert, he is capable of enabling and empowering others, which is what we’re all about as priests. He also has a wonderful sense of humor, which also is needed in the church.”

The ordinations come about 18 months after three priests were removed from Maine churches when allegations of their sexual abuse of minors became public.

“These ordinations are clearly a message of hope for the church here in Maine,” said Vaillancourt. “The Lord is letting people know that the church is going on.”

As the scandal gained momentum, Paul LaBree and many of his fellow seminarians at Theological College of Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., took a long-term view of its effect on the Roman Catholic Church.

“When the scandal broke, we were disappointed,” he said, “but because we believe in the truth of the Gospel, we realized that what Christ did 2,000 years ago was still true today regardless if people failed the church or not. … I compare it to the way politicians have failed the government. We still know that democracy can work even if those in government fail. It’s the same way with the church. Because some priests have failed, that doesn’t compromise what we hold up as the truth.”

The shortage of priests in the state has increased their workload significantly in the past five years.

Vaillancourt, who is scheduled to take over July 1 as pastor at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church, Hampden, and St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church, Winterport, had some advice for the younger priest on coping with diverse parish demands.

“What nourishes me is responding to the need for prayer and focusing on the Eucharist,” he said. “Those are the two most important things that keep me going and I know those are the things that will keep him going.”

As the youngest priest in the diocese, Paul LaBree will be expected to be a role model for Catholic youth throughout the state. Already, he has been assigned to lead the annual conference of high school students this fall, and he has asked Vaillancourt to help him.

LaBree said that he is anxious to begin his work this week at a parish in Lewiston.

“I think you never feel completely ready,” he said. “I hope I don’t become overwhelmed by my ministry. … I want to help people see the image of God in every human person. I want to be available to them and present with them. I hope to bring a spirit of prayer and a listening ear to my work.”