Very Rev. Monsignor Paul A Lenz, PA, 91, a resident of Sacred Heart Home, Hyattsville, MD, formerly of Gallitzin, died May 14, 2017, at a home. Born December 15, 1925, in Gallitzin, the son of the late Raymond M. and Aimee (Gillen) Lenz. Succeeded in death by brothers, Francis, John and Glenn. Survived by brothers Richard – Arlington, TX and R. Raymond – Cresson, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Monsignor Lenz attended Altoona Catholic High, St. Vincent College and Seminary, Latrobe, Graduate School at Penn State University. Studied a year at the Instituto de Idomis in Cochabamba, Bolivia and served as missionary for four years in Paraguay, South America. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown on April 2, 1949 by the Most Reverend Richard T. Guilfoyle and served in Diocesan parishes at Newry, Johnstown, Coupon, Chest Springs, Loretto and Bellefonte. Monsignor taught theology at St. Francis University and Mount Aloysius College. He was awarded an honorary degree, Doctor of Divinity, by St. Vincent Seminary in 1983. He was a former member of the Board of Trustees of the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and of Xavier University of Louisiana, served on the Board of Regents of Immaculate Conception and Catholic University in Washington, DC. In April 2007, he retired after 31 years as the National Director of the Catholic Church’s Black and Indian Mission Office, the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions and the Catholic Negro-American Mission Board in Washington, DC. When the Indian Mohawk Maiden, Kateri Tekakwitha, was beautified at the Vatican in Rome on June 20, 1980, Monsignor and the Bureau of catholic Indian Missions were in charge of all the arrangements.
In July 2005, he was appointed by the Vatican to be the Vice-Postulator for the Canonization Cause of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. In January of 2007, Monsignor was named “Prothonotary Apostolic” by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI. He was a Fourth-Degree Knight of Columbus and a Knight Commander of the Holy Sepulchre. On the Feat of the Immaculate Conception, Monsignor received the annual Patronal Medal of the Basilica and the Catholic University of America.
The Reception of the Body and Viewing was held at St. Demetrius Catholic Church, Gallitzin, on Wednesday from 2 to 8 p.m., with Vespers at 7:00 pm. There was a Funeral Mass on Thursday at 11:00 am, the Most Reverend Mark L. Bartchak, JCD, celebrant, with and Diocesan Priests. Homilist, Fr. Edwin Dill, ST. Committal at St. Patrick Cemetery, Gallitzin. Arrangements by Gibbons Funeral Home, 301 Church Street, Gallitzin.
