Gulf Pine Catholic • January 30, 2026 7 Getting to Know the Servants in the Diocese of Biloxi who answered God’s Call to a Religious Vocation BY MONICAWALTON BILOXI -- While every person serving in a religious vocation has their own journey to hearing and answering God’s call, sometimes you meet a priest and think, he was just built for this vocation from the start! Father Bernie Farrell is one such man who just seems to have been built for priestly ministry. He had an openness toward the path to the priesthood from an early age and never seemed to have wrestled with whether or not to pursue it. Born and raised in County Galway, Ireland, Father Bernie grew up in a large Catholic family with nine children. He served as an Altar Server from an early age, completed his early education at the local Primary and Secondary School, and then went to study philosophy at the Jesuit college in Limerick. It was there that teenage Bernie was offered the opportunity to attend seminary at Carlow College. “A priest came and asked me if I had ever thought about being a priest,” said Father Bernie, retired since 2015. “I had certainly thought about it in my younger years, but as a teen I had the usual interests, which included playing sports, looking at girls, and a brief consideration of being a police officer,” he laughs. “But when that priest offered the chance to study theology at Carlow College in St. Patrick’s, I decided to go ahead and give it a try.” Father Bernie tried and succeeded, and chose to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Msgr. Patrick Farrell, and his priest cousins, Father Patrick Quinn and Father Peter Quinn, who all dedicated their lives in service to Mississippi. Father Bernie was trained in Pre-Vatican II when the Latin Rite was still the order of Mass. He was ordained at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Carlow, Ireland, on June 13, 1965, for the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson, MS, just as the Second Vatican Council drew to a close. Two months later, he arrived in America and had to say his first-ever English Mass facing the congregation on Saturday night. But he had no problem adjusting. Father Bernie smiles as he talks about his life of ministry, saying it has been a very happy life. “I served 50 years as a priest and have nothing but good memories filled with great people,” he said. For his first five years, Father Bernie served as Assistant Pastor at Nativity, Biloxi, then St. Joseph, Greenville. In 1970, he was moved to Starkville. It was there that he earned a Master of Counseling at Mississippi State while assisting the pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Starkville. From there, Father Bernie moved to another college town and was assigned his first role as pastor for St. Thomas Parish, Hattiesburg. Later, he was named Director of Campus Ministry for the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. Originally, Mississippi had only one diocese, the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson, to serve the entire state. In 1977, the Diocese of Biloxi was established, and Father Bernie was named pastor at Sacred Heart Parish in Pascagoula. His brother, Father Patrick, remained in the Diocese of Jackson. Father Bernie was pastor at Sacred Heart, Pascagoula, for 12 years, then was assigned to St. Alphonsus Parish in Ocean Springs for 12 years. Finally, he moved just a few miles down Highway 90 to be the pastor of his final parish assignment, St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Ocean Springs. During his tenure, Father Bernie also served the diocese and his fellow priests as a member of the Priests’ Personnel Board, Dean of the East Coast Deanery, and he represented the Biloxi-Pascagoula area as a member of the Diocesan Presbyteral Council. “I never had an assignment I didn’t enjoy,” said Father Bernie. “Everywhere I went, there were such nice people, and those were all good years.” He says the most challenging work he encountered was when Bishop Rodi appointed him to lead the fundraising drive to build the new St. Patrick High School. “I was scared to death going from parish to parish to gain support for the project,” Father Bernie admitted. “I didn’t always have a good reception, and that was the first time I ever had to face real opposition,” he said. “But in many ways, it was a great experience for me. We really worked with the people and reached agreements for them to retain some of the money raised to help with the needs of their parish. So it all worked out for the best.” In 2015, Fatjer Bernie’s brother, Msgr. Patrick Farrell, who is four years older, was diagnosed with dementia. Although Father Bernie was still thriving at St. Elizabeth Seton Parish, he requested and received permission to retire. Father Bernie moved to Canton to live with his brother and take care of him. After all of those years in separate dioceses, the two brothers became roommates once again. In recent years, the elder Father Farrell has required skilled nursing care and now resides at nearby St. Catherine’s Village. Father Bernie continues to visit frequently and oversees his brother’s care. During his early years of retirement, Father Bernie stayed busy filling in for parish priests in the Jackson area, particularly Flowood, Canton, and Camden. He continued celebrating baptisms and weddings, providing counseling, and playing weekly games of tennis and golf. “I especially love celebrating Mass with the predominantly Black parishes, like Holy Child Jesus,” he said. “They really lift your spirits right from the start of Mass. The whole congregation sings, and it’s so beautiful.” Father Bernie turned 85 this year. Reflecting on his life well-lived, he humbly states, “I didn’t deserve it. God took great care of me.” Due to some recent health issues of his own, Father Bernie has had to slow down a bit. In this, he also finds great joy and beauty in his priesthood. “Whatever troubles I experience, I simply add it to the Cross,” he said. “Nothing compares to what Jesus went through.” Retirement also allows more time for broader contemplation since he’s no longer preparing for weekly preaching as was the case in active parish ministry. “I concentrate on prayer now,” he said. “I pray one or two rosaries a day, and focus on the breviary.” He continues to play a little golf, offers counseling to some individuals, and celebrates a Daily private Mass in his home. Sometimes friends join him for his home Mass. “It’s nice when groups of friends come visit from the Coast,” he added. “It’s like having a little congregation again.” Father Bernie said he has always turned to Scripture, particularly John 3:16-17. He closes his eyes and recites the sacred words that have captured his heart and fueled his ministry: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” “I keep that in mind always,” said Father Bernie. “It’s the Father and Son in a communion of love.” His story is such a good example of a joyful, fulfilling life as a Catholic priest. God continues to call young men to this very special vocation. “I pray every day for more vocations,” said Father Bernie. When asked for words of wisdom for young men who may wonder if they have a calling, he replied, “God is the one who gives the vocation. It’s up to us to cooperate with Him. If you have any inkling at all that you have this vocation, pray about it and talk to a priest. God won’t dupe you!” He also advises that, above all, one is to be thankful, whatever the outcome in discerning a Religious Vocation. “If the answer is ‘Yes’, thank God,” he said. Then he added, “If not, thank God, too! And be the best you can at whatever you do!” Father Farrell ~ Hearing and Answering the Call
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