A modern day St Paul ('Florida Catholic')

 

by YEDICA LEAL - MIAMI  (Florida Catholic)

 

When Msgr. Ambrose De Paoli found out he had been appointed archbishop, he opted to have the ordination ceremony at the same church where he had served as an altar boy -  Miami's St. Mary Cathedral. Twenty-four years and ten apostolic appointments later, he returned to south Florida, where he lost a battle against leukemia October 10.

 

"He was like a modern-day St. Paul. He was assigned to various parts of the world where he was able to continue the work of evangelizing," said Father Ronald Pusak, a retired Miami priest and grade school friend of Archbishop De Paoli.

 

The archbishop was serving as Vatican nuncio to Australia when he was diagnosed with leukemia in March 2005. In Australia, he concluded 41 years of service in the Vatican's diplomatic corps, including appointments as apostolic delegate to South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, and apostolic pro-nuncio and nuncio to Sri Lanka, Lesotho, Swaziland, South Africa, Namibia and Japan.

 

Born Aug. 19, 1934, in Jeannette, Penn., Ambrose De Paoli moved to Miami at the age of nine. His parents, Jack and Domenica De Paoli, became one of the founding families of Visitation Parish, North Miami. He attended St. Mary Cathedral School, where he served as an altar boy.

 

After graduating from high school, he attended St. Joseph Seminary in Hartford, Conn., and then St. Mary of the West Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. He completed his studies at the North American College in Rome, where he was ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Miami Dec. 18, 1960. While in Miami he served as an associate pastor at St. Patrick Church, Miami Beach, and Visitation.

 

At the time of his ordination as archbishop, Nov. 20, 1983, he was serving in the Vatican's diplomatic service. His ordination was attended by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, the highest-ranking prelate in the Catholic Church after the pope; Miami Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy; and the papal delegate to the United States, Archbishop Pio Laghi.

 

His ordination made him the only American in the church's 100-member group of ambassadors, the eighth Florida priest to be elevated to the episcopacy in 36 years and the second to attain the rank of archbishop.

 

Although he traveled around the world, Archbishop De Paoli never lost his connection to south Florida.

 

"Every time he would come home to visit his family he celebrated Mass at Visitation," said Father Chris Marino, pastor of Visitation and a close friend of the family. "He was an extended member of the parish."

 

Father Marino remembers Archbishop De Paoli as always having a dignified and gentle manner. "He was a great influence on my vocation as a priest," said Father Marino, who visited Archbishop De Paoli at Mt. Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach on Tuesday to anoint him and give him his blessing.

 

Archbishop De Paoli died a few hours later at the age of 73.

 

The Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, said Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, had sent Archbishop De Paoli a message in late August, assuring the archbishop of his prayers and those of Pope Benedict XVI, "asking the Lord to grant him serenity, comfort and strength."

 

"We are blessed in the life and ministry of the archbishop. Indeed, the Archdiocese of Miami is proud to count him as one of us," said Father Patrick O'Neill, who visited Archbishop De Paoli in Australia. "As he journeys to heaven, we promise him our prayers and esteem."

 

Archbishop De Paoli is survived by his sister, Sylvia Hershberger, his brother-in-law, David Hershberger, his niece, Justine Keller and his nephew, Ryan Hershberger.

 

Services were held at Visitation Church Oct. 16, and a funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Mary Cathedral Oct. 17, with Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio the United States, presiding.