Funeral Set This Weekend for Pastor of Augusta-Area Catholic Parish Who Died Suddenly

KENNEBEC JOURNAL ^ | September 2 | Scott Monroe

[nickcarraway]

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland said the Rev. John Skehan, 66, pastor of the Augusta-based St. Michael Parish, died unexpectedly of natural causes Wednesday while visiting friends on his day off. The pastor of the local Catholic parish here who died suddenly this week will be laid to rest with a funeral and burial this Labor Day weekend, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland said.

Rev. John Skehan

John Skehan, 66, pastor of the Augusta-based St. Michael Parish, died unexpectedly late Wednesday afternoon, according to a statement by Bishop Robert Deeley. The diocese did not disclose the cause of death except to say it was of “natural causes at the home of friends while visiting them on his day off.”

Skehan had been pastor of St. Michael since 2018, overseeing a parish that serves nearly 4,000 households. It includes St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Augusta; St. Augustine Church in Augusta; St. Joseph Church in Gardiner; Sacred Heart Church in Hallowell; St. Denis Church in Whitefield; and St. Francis Xavier Church in Winthrop. The parish also partners with St. Michael School, a Catholic school in Augusta serving children in prekindergarten through eighth grade, and maintains eight cemeteries.

The diocese said arrangements for Skehan would start Sunday, with a 4 p.m. reception of the body at St. Augustine Church at 75 Northern Ave. in Augusta, followed by a 7 p.m. wake. His funeral Mass is set for Monday at 10 a.m. at St. Augustine, with Deeley presiding as the celebrant, followed by burial at New St. Mary’s Cemetery in Manchester.

In a statement, Deeley said Skehan’s death “comes as a shock to all who know and love” the pastor. Skehan, who grew up in Hampden, “had indicated his preference that his funeral would take place in the parish where he was serving when he died,” according to Deeley.

“The loss of Father Skehan is a great sorrow for all who have known him,” Deeley said in a message to parishioners this week. “His family, his brother priests, as well as you, his parishioners, are all saddened by his sudden death. In this moment we rely on our faith to strengthen us. It is a time for us to remember that Jesus’ coming among us was, and continues to be, God’s assurance that he is with us in all things, and especially moments of difficulty such as this. Let us pray for each other, then, that we will know that Jesus walks with us in this time of loss.”

Skehan attended Hampden Academy and received his bachelor’s degree in biology from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, according to the diocese. Prior to entering seminary to become a pastor, Skehan served as the educational coordinator for “Up with People” from 1978 to 1980 and worked as a junior high school science teacher in Oakland from 1980 to 1982. Skehan completed his clerical studies at Theological College in Washington, D.C., according to the diocese, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1986 at St. Matthew Church in Hampden.

Tristan Morton receives a religious emblem April 27 from the Rev. John Skehan following a Mass at St. Mary’s Church in Augusta. Courtesy photo

During his ministry in Maine, Skehan served at parishes in Waterville, Portland, Houlton, South Berwick, Berwick, York, Kittery, Bar Harbor, Bucksport, Ellsworth and Augusta. He also served in campus ministry at Colby College in Waterville, hospital ministry at Maine Medical Center, and as the director of the Office of Parish Planning for the Diocese of Portland.

The Rev. Patrick Finn, who serves as a parochial vicar at Prince of Peace Parish in Lewiston and previously also served in that role for Corpus Christi Parish in Waterville from 2018 to 2020, said that while he was a seminarian he had lived with Skehan in Bar Harbor in the summer of 2017.

“He was a good man, and an honorable and generous priest, with tons of energy — he just never stopped,” Finn said.

Finn also noted that Skehan was a builder: He helped build a new church in Berwick — Our Lady of the Angels, which opened in 2012 — and started a massive restoration at Holy Redeemer Church in Bar Harbor after he was assigned to the three Hancock County parishes in 2014.

Augusta’s St. Michael Parish is currently served by two parochial vicars: the Rev. Nehru Stephen Savarayia, as well as the Rev. Anthony F. Kuzia, who only just started the role on Thursday following an appointment that was announced in June.

Noreen Hare, business manager for St. Michael Parish, said Skehan was about to kick off a capital fundraising campaign “that he believed in so much,” and the pastor had donated the first $10,000 toward the campaign “and never told anyone.”

“He was a generous, giving and very humble priest,” Hare said by email Friday. “We certainly lost a great man but heaven gained an angel.”

[nickcarraway]

Ping

[duckman]

Clot shot is now a natural cause?

[know.your.why]

I was told by a friend in Alberta that the #1 cause of death today in Canada is “Unknown”. Don’t know if that’s true...if not im happy to pass on misinformation since im a MAGA Republican and supposedly that’s what I do.

[Parmy]

How many jabs was he required to get per orders from his bishop?

[BipolarBob]

he #1 cause of death today in Canada is “Unknown”.

They forget how to do autopsies there?

[The_Media_never_lie]

Augusta, Maine.

[TexasGator]

“I was told by a friend in Alberta that the #1 cause of death today in Canada is “Unknown”. Don’t know if that’s true...if not im happy to pass on misinformation since im a MAGA Republican and supposedly that’s what I do.”

Either your friend misspoke, you misheard him or you don’t remember what he said.

[roving]

He found out Mary didn’t hear one single prayer

[nickcarraway]

I guess the Bible is wrong. You think he should have been following Allah?

[ransomnote]

I've seen those reports too. Here's one from the province of Alberta, Deaths with unknown causes now Alberta's top killer: province

• Nicole Di Donato
• CTV News Calgary

 "Alberta is reporting an unprecedented increase in ill-defined and unknown causes of death in 2021. 

That category is leading the way over dementia, which has been in the top spot since 2016, and COVID-19, which began adding to the death tally in the province in a big way in 2020. 

In 2021, ill-defined and unknown causes of death snagged the first spot with 3,362, up from 1,464 in 2020 and 522 the year before that, according to statistics from the Government of Alberta. 

The unknown causes of death category only began appearing on the list in 2019 — there is no record of it ranking before then, dating back to 2001. "

[politicianslie]

Clot shot is now a natural cause?;

How dare you even imply that the extremely safe, extremely effective COVID vaccines have even caused a confirmed death.

People have forever had heart attacks, (nothing that unusual about a 13 year old having a heart attack and dying), dropped to the floor while (fill in the blank), having ruptured aortas that looked like a blown PVC pipe that was over pressured.... These things have been happening forever but the conspiracy theorists like you are making people vaccine hesitant which will lead to unnecessary deaths.

Please stop! Go do the right thing and get your shots as your government has told you to do. iF you keep it up, Brandon Joey will take the gloves off. He knows how to treat the MAGA traitors. /sarc

[duckman]

There is no telling what the future will hold for the Jab-ee’s. As an aside, Funeral Services stocks have risen since the ‘Pandemic’ began, and embalmers are finding weird things growing in vax’ed bodies. Not joking at all.

[politicianslie]

Funeral Stocks and Embalmers:

The embalmer is pointing to a clot shot growth pulled out of an aorta. He says that the growths (clots) get bigger until they fill the vessel. If he's right, it is a death sentence for everyone that is jabbed. The only question is: How long does it take, will the ones with two jabbed NOT die as quick as the ones foolish enough to get their line of boosters?

RUMBLE VIDEO UK undertaker showing clots from vaxxxed

Death Stocks:

Edward Dowd conviced me months ago that the idiots with business degrees running the death stock companies are truly stupid people. They see the excess death numbers increasing, they see the companies making too much money (because large number of dead need to be handled) and they are at a loss to explain what is happening!

You can't make this stuff up.

I loaded up with death stocks a while ago. I don't invest for $$ reasons, I invest based on political manipulation. In fact, I haven't looked at the $$ side now as the public doesn't yet realize there is a vaxxxxxxine crises that is going to kill millions in the US. The crises will come eventually, I am amazed there are idiots out there who will line up to get jabbed again.

Edward Dowd on GETTR