HUNTERSVILLE — Monsignor Richard Bellow, the retired pastor of St. Mark Church, celebrates 50 years of priestly ministry this year.
Monsignor Bellow began his ministry as a Franciscan priest, serving at parishes in New Jersey and upstate New York before serving as director of St. Francis Seminary in Staten Island, N.Y. Then in 1987, he made the move to the Diocese of Charlotte, to be closer to his ailing mother. His first assignment in the diocese was as pastor of St. John Neumann Church in Charlotte.
After 10 years, he moved to serve alongside Father Edward Sheridan at St. Gabriel Church in Charlotte – one of the largest parishes in the diocese and the largest parish he’d ever served in at that point of his priesthood.
“Since arriving here in 1987, I have seen how the diocese has grown – in terms of Catholics and in terms of what the Church has accomplished,” Monsignor Bellow said in a 2013 Catholic News Herald interview upon his retirement.
He was known as “Father Richard” to many – that is, until 2002, when on the Feast of St. Francis, Oct. 4, then Bishop William Curlin conferred on him the title of Chaplain of His Holiness and he became “Monsignor Bellow.”
From 2004 until his retirement in 2013, Monsignor Bellow served as pastor of St. Mark Church in Huntersville, shepherding what would grow to become one of the largest parishes in the diocese.
“I didn’t even know where Huntersville was. I had to pull out a map to find it,” he recalls with a smile.
Monsignor Bellow helped guide the construction of a new church building that was dedicated in 2009, fulfilling a 12-year dream for parishioners in Huntersville. The fledgling Catholic community north of Charlotte had begun its journey with attending Masses in a bowling alley. Now the church has a sprawling campus that includes a school, parish hall, gardens and more.
Many of the sacred items that adorn the sanctuary of the new church building are from the Franciscan seminary where Monsignor Bellow had received his formation. The altar, ambo and crucifix bring back pleasant memories for him.
“This combines my Franciscan priesthood and my diocesan priesthood,” he explained.
Monsignor Bellow shared that the day Bishop Peter Jugis came to dedicate the new church was “a glorious day! A great gift from God.”
He is also very proud that Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration is now offered in the chapel at St. Mark.
“If God wants me to be remembered for one thing, that’s what I want to be remembered for: being the pastor here when God did this good work in us,” he said.
Since he retired seven years ago, Monsignor Bellow has been able to continue his priestly ministry and being of service to others. He had been helping out at parishes almost every weekend before the COVID-19 pandemic in March precluded most public Masses. He had also trained and volunteered often at the Hospice house in Huntersville before restrictions on visitors to health care facilities went into effect last spring.
“I really haven’t left the house. I have gone into the desert,” he says. “Sometimes it’s good but sometimes it’s difficult.”
He has made use of video conferencing tools to keep in touch with people while he remains close to home for his own health’s sake during the pandemic.
He notes, “I have a sign that I look at every morning that says essentially, ‘Talk less, think more.’ So I have been really getting into reading the Scriptures and praying and spending time alone with the Lord. It has been unbelievable.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
