05 Apr 2018
The Missionaries of the Sacred Heart are very sad to announce the passing of Fr Mark McDonald, our former Superior General.
Fr Mark McDonald passed away on April 2, 2018 at the Sacred Heart Villa in Center Valley, Pennsylvania at age 75. Father McDonald was born July 22, 1942 in Watertown, New York, the son of Donald and Anna Murrock McDonald. He was a graduate of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School and Immaculate Heart Academy.
Fr McDonald attended St. Bonaventure University for two years and began his studies to become a Missionary of the Sacred Heart (MSC) in 1961. He completed his philosophy studies in Quebec, Canada and graduated from Laval University in Quebec City in 1964. He completed his theological studies in Rome, Italy and graduated from the Angelicum Pontifical University in Rome in 1968. He was ordained a priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart on June 29, 1968 in Watertown by Bishop Thomas Donnellan.
After ordinaton, Fr McDonald taught at the Sacred Heart Preparatory Seminary and Immaculate Heart Central High School (IHC), both in Watertown. In 1972, he became Vice Principal at IHC. In 1976, he became Director of the MSC Retreat and Renewal Center in Shelby, Ohio. In 1983, he became Formation Director for the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Bogota, Colombia and in 1985 became Sectional Superior of the MSCs in Colombia.
In 1991, Fr McDonald was elected Provincial of the MSCs in the United States headquartered in Aurora, Illinois. In 1997, he became Pastor of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart parish in Watertown. In 1999, he became Director of Cor Novum (the MSC retreat and renewal center in Issoudun, France). From 2005 to 2017, he was Superior General of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart worldwide located in Rome, Italy. Fr McDonald became semi-retired in 2018 and was residing at the Sacred Heart Villa in Center Valley, Pennsylvania.
Please keep Fr Mark McDonald in your thoughts and prayers.
Fr Mark McDonald MSC, 1942 – 2018
Source: Watertown Daily Times