Fr. Bob Penhalluric, while Pastor St. Francis de Sales,
Newark Ohio, Convert to Catholicism

“I became a Catholic and then I became a priest.”

An Anglo-Catholic in the Church of England

Fr. Bob Penhallurick grew up in Cornwall, England and was baptized in the Church of England.

“I had a calling to minister at an early age, but I did not know at the time it would be a calling to the Roman Catholic Church,” said Fr. Bob.

He attended college and became an accountant working in Cornwall and London, England for 10 years. He still felt a call to ministry, so he enrolled in The Theological College, Chichester to for ministry in the Church of England.

“While I was studying, I was drawn more and more to the Catholic faith and became less and less convinced that I could live it in the Church of England,” said Fr. Bob.

When he began to study the documents of the 2nd Vatican Council and the liturgy of the Catholic Church, “it began to dawn on me that I needed to become Roman Catholic,” but he felt that is was important to try to be faithful to the Church of England. He continued on the journey to the priesthood in the Church of England and was ordained an Anglican deacon and then as an Anglican priest.

“For me belief in the Real presence of Our Lord in the Eucharist was at the heart of my call to ministry. It was during the Anglo-Catholic version of the Mass of Thanksgiving (first Mass) when I raised the host and said ‘this is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’ that I realized that for Jesus to be truly present, body, blood soul and divinity, I needed to try to receive valid Catholic orders and that this was not possible through the Church of England,” said Fr. Bob.

That celebration was July 4th, 1994 and perhaps that was date was significant in that he would become a Catholic diocesan priest in the U.S. five years later. In August, 1994, he began receiving instructions to convert to Roman Catholicism.

Received into the Roman Catholic Church

He was received into the Roman Catholic Church on Feb. 1, 1995 and began seminary at St. John’s Seminary in Wonersh, England in May, 1995. One year later, he graduated with a Graduate Masters degree in theology with a concentration in health care and bioethics.

Fr. Bob, who has never been married, and has always been committed to a life of celibacy (not a requirement for Anglo-Catholic priests), was ordained as a Roman Catholic Priest at the age of 35 in May, 1996.

His first assignment as a Catholic priest was as Associate Pastor at Our Lady and the English Martyrs, Cambridge, where he also served as chaplain at a university, a trustee for the diocese and served on the diocesan finance committee.

“From the moment I held up the host at that first Mass in Cambridge, I never, ever doubted that this is Jesus – I knew he was there,” said Fr. Bob. “I have never regretted becoming a Catholic– never for even one second.

Landing in Columbus, Ohio

Fr. Bob is often asked how a priest from England ended up in Columbus, Ohio.

While in high school in England, at the age of 18, Fr. Bob came to Columbus to visit a teacher from England, and her husband, who had moved to Columbus, Ohio. Fr. Bob liked the Columbus area and wanted to stay and study here, but that was not an option for him at that time.

He continued to visit friends in Columbus on and off over the years. Later, after he was ordained a Catholic priest, he returned here and “met Bishop Griffin at dinner on several occasions.” Fr. Bob requested and received permission from his Bishop in England, and from Bishop Griffin, to come to Columbus for a two-year temporary assignment.

“I arrived in June, 1999 and my first assignment was Columbus St. Peter’s where I ended up staying for three years,” said Fr. Bob. “It was during that time that I realized that I wanted to stay here permanently.”

Bishop Griffin welcomed him as a permanent diocesan priest in the Columbus Diocese. After St. Peter’s, he was assigned to Hilliard St. Brendan’s for one year, and then Pastor of Newark St. Francis de Sales where he has served for six years.

“I love this diocese, I absolutely love it here. People are generally open and friendly. You can be in the city and then in the country in minutes. The winters are colder and the summers are warmer than England and I like that too,” said Fr. Bob.

The Life of a Priest

He enjoys the variety of parish life. “Prayer and Mass are central to the life of a priest and then you go out and you share that with people fruitfully,” said Fr. Bob. “There is no particular aspect of the priesthood that stands out for me, though I do enjoy the ministry to the sick very much, and I enjoy spending time with the kids in the school.”

“When you become a pastor, everything stops at your desk. Your overall responsibility increases, but it is important to keep the administrative work in proportion to the ministries,” said Fr. Bob. It addition, Fr. Bob believes it is important for a priest to have time to “relax, unwind and recharge” to continue to be of service to others.

Fr. Bob enjoys exercising, whether it is swimming, using cardio machines, or lifting weights. He celebrates Mass in the parish and usually has a Holy Hour midday, followed by late afternoon time for exercise so he can have dinner and be ready for evening meetings.

He and Associate Pastor, Fr. Adam Streitenberger, try to eat dinner and pray together a couple nights a week to build fraternity. Fr. Bob also enjoys reading several books at once –both theological and fiction. He enjoys travel and has visited 22 states so far. He and his mother take turns visiting each other bi-annually. He will be heading back to England for a visit in the summer, 2009.

Advice for Seminarians

“It is so important to make prayer central to everything. Prayer is a fountain of grace for us to build our relationship with the Lord. We must constantly refuel from the fountain of grace to help others discover God’s grace,” said Fr. Bob.

“It is hard to go from the environment of seminary where prayer time is given to you. Then out in the world you have to take it – to take that time and spend it with the Lord so you can share that gift of grace and prayer with others.”