Father Rush: From the United States Army to
God’s Army
Father Gary Rush, OFM, cer-
tainly stands out a crowd. With his
brown Franciscan habit, it’s hard
not to.
Father Rush, one of nine chil-
dren, was born in Jackson, Nebras-
ka. From 1970-1971 Father Rush
was a combat soldier, U.S. Army,
infantry, Vietnam. “I felt called to
become a priest during my service
in Vietnam,” Father Rush said.
“However, after returning from Vietnam, I worked in
business -- first in Nebraska and then for five years in
Saudi Arabia.”
Father Rush holds a BS and MBAfrom Nebraska
University; STB from Rome’s Gregorian; MA, in
Theology from Rome’s Angelicum; STL. and PhD
in Spirituality from Rome’s Antonianum; and a MEd
(education) from The George Washington University
in Washington D.C.
Father Rush was ordained a priest on June 3, 1989,
for the Archdiocese of Omaha, Neb. He entered Fran-
ciscan formation with the Custody of the Holy Land
in August 1994. “Franciscans work for free,” Father
Rush said. “We preach the gospel without charge. “We
believe that in giving you receive.”
“Franciscans are an order structured around the
beliefs of St. Francis of Assisi, the Saint of ecology,
nature and life,” Father Rush said. “St. Francis also
was notably involved with lepers and the poor.” He is
well-known for the marks of The Stigmata.”
Father Rush has served in many locations includ-
ing Nebraska, India, Germany, Africa, and Rome and
Israel. He served in parishes and taught in parochial
schools and universities. While in Israel, he was mas-
ter of Franciscan novices and pastor of the English-
speaking parish of Jerusalem.
Father Rush arrived in Diamondhead in July and
began assisting with pastoral, and teaching duties at
Our Lady of the Gulf Parish. He is now performing the
same duties, also, at Most Holy Trinity Parish. “I came
to the Coast fully intending to just focus on retirement
and recovery. However, I have never been the kind of
priest to just sit back -- if there is a need for work to be
done.”
“I don’t live in the rectory due to health concerns,”
Father Rush said. “I have agent orange-related cancer.
My doctors felt it would be better to live apart from
the busy atmosphere of the rectory so that I could
recover. I am doing better, but it is a recurring situa-
tion. Agent orange cancer is associated with exposure
during service in Vietnam. It tends to be a bit more
difficult to control. The Biloxi VA hospital has one
of the very best doctors for this type of cancer. I have
been very fortunate in all of this. It is a double blessing
to serve not one but two great parishes.”
Father Rush
Late vocation Father LaCorte brings his talents to
Diocese of Biloxi
BY TERRY DICKSON
BILOXI -- Father Richard LaCorte, SFO, was a late
vocation but, as the saying goes, better late than never.
In May, Father LaCorte, a priest of the Diocese of
Fargo North Dakota who is currently ministering in the
Diocese of Biloxi, will celebrate 28 years of priesthood.
In his previous life, Father LaCorte, a native of Bos-
ton, Mass., was an educator.
“I taught on and off for about eight years at a Catho-
lic school in the Virgin Islands,” he said, adding that the
head of the school’s drama department was a Domini-
can priest.
In 1972, Father LaCorte took a hiatus from teaching
to join the Dominicans where he stayed for three years.
“The last two years were spent at the Dominican
House of Studies in Washington D.C. on Michigan Av-
enue across from Catholic University of America,” he
said.
“After those three years, I came to believe that I
didn’t really have a call there.”
As a result, he ended up back in the Boston area
where he did numerous odd jobs.
“Among other things, I worked as an infirmarian
and did some part-time teaching. I also worked in a
cemetery one spring and summer,” he said.
In 1978, Father LaCorte decided that the priesthood
might not be a career option.
“So I got my job back down in St. Croix and I stayed
there until 1983,” he said.
“My parents had moved down to Florida so I joined
them in 1983. I got a job teaching at a Catholic elemen-
tary school nearby and then decided
that I would really like to give the
priesthood another try.”
Father LaCorte contacted a
Jesuit-run seminary for older voca-
tions in Spokane, Wash., which has
since closed, and the first bishop
who agreed to sponsor him was the
bishop Fargo.
Father LaCorte took classes at
Gonzaga University from 1984 un-
til 1986 and was ordained by Bishop James Sullivan in
May 1987.
After serving in several parishes in the Diocese of
Fargo, in 1993 Father LaCorte was given the green light
to move to Florida to be closer to his parents and to
minister in the Diocese of Palm Beach.
In 1996, Father LaCorte joined the Franciscans of
the Holy Land, where he remained for four years.
“I spent some time at their house in Washington,
D.C., nine months in Sicily learning Italian and a cou-
ple of years in the Holy Land itself and then 16 months
in Cyprus. I didn’t think I was cut out for religious life,
so I returned to Fargo,” he said.
In 2004, he was granted permission to return to Flor-
ida to serve in his parents’ home parish.
He stayed for four years before returning to Fargo in
2008 and was granted retirement in 2012.
“I’ve been looking around for the past year or so at
various places where I knew the weather was warmer,”
he said.
“I love the South. I’ve been all throughout the
Southeast and I love the people and just the whole thing
and the weather is warmer than Fargo.”
Father LaCorte was acquaintances with Father Mark
Ropel, current pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in
Hattiesburg, who had previously served in Fargo.
After speaking with Father Ropel, Father LaCorte
decided to come down and check out the Diocese of
Biloxi.
“I flew down for a week and met Bishop Morin and
he was most kind, most welcoming,” Father LaCorte
said.
“Several months went by and I came down to Pass
Christian with Father Mike O’Connor -- another great
priest -- where I stayed for three weeks to see if I could
come up with some sort of post where they would need
a second priest.”
After speaking with Father Mike Kelleher, pastor
of Sacred Heart Parish in Pascagoula, Father LaCorte
made his move and spent a short time helping out
around Father Kelleher.
Now Father LaCorte is helping out at Sacred Heart
and Holy Rosary Parishes in Hattiesburg and hopes to
make Mississippi his permanent home.
He said he enjoys everything about being a priest.
“I love preaching. I love the liturgy,” he said. “I’ve
taught also so, if a position should open up at one of
the Catholic schools -- high school would be neat -- I
would welcome it. Teaching is my profession and the
priesthood is my vocation. I love the priesting and the
teaching.”
Father LaCorte
16
Gulf Pine Catholic
•
March 28, 2014
