Fr. Richard Chilson, CSP
(1943-2026)

With sadness, our beloved Paulist, Fr. Dick has passed on Friday, March 20th early in the morning. He passed away peacefully in his sleep at the Old St. Mary’s Rectory, after a series of hospital visits since December fighting off one infection after another.

Fr. Dick was ordained in 1972 at the age of 29. He served much of his priesthood in campus ministry. He started at the Newman Center at University of Connecticut and after 4 years, served at Newman Hall at UC Berkeley for 20 years. He did studies in Rome in 1996 then served at St. Philip Neri in Portland, OR for 3 years starting 1997. He later moved to St. Lawrence in Minneapolis, MN serving 9 years, mostly as a hospital chaplain. From 2010 to now, he spent his senior years at Old St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco.

Fr. Dick wrote some 20 books on a variety of spiritual topics, such as “Catholic Christianity: A Guide to the Way, The Truth, and The Life,” “The Hour is Now: Praying with the Gospel of John,” and “Evangelization Homily Hints: A Resource for Catholic Preachers.” The first book was a popular catechism used by many RCIA programs.

Fr. Dick is known for his brilliance and creativity to make the faith come alive in surprising ways. He is a great lover of the arts, especially opera, classical music, musical theater, and poetry. His great appreciation of beauty allowed him to encounter the holy in abundance. In his final return from the hospital, the first thing he wanted was having his TV showing a grand symphony concert.