FATHER GUS MELITO

During his more than 42 years as a Catholic priest, the Rev. August A. "Gus" Melito was sympathetic to the needs of people, for whom he worked through a guiding principle of Christian love.

Since 1995, he had been pastor of St. Bernard of Clairvaux Catholic Church in East Dallas, but he was known, loved and respected by a far greater circle of people.

Father Melito, 69, died Monday of complications from a brain tumor while in hospice care at the St. Bernard church rectory.

Father Melito was a man dedicated to social justice, said John Paul Kelly, permanent deacon at St. Bernard.

"He was very concerned with the poor and the oppressed and a great proponent of women's rights and the rights of minorities," Mr. Kelly said.

Father Melito wrestled with the injustices and other problems he saw in the world, as well as the means to correct them within the Catholic Church. He often did so with a sense of humor.

"He always said he was thankful to those people who got him to his vocation, but even more thankful for those who kept him in his vocation, because he said that was the hard part," Mr. Kelly said.

Father Melito was once described by a friend as "the chaplain to all the Catholic radicals in Dallas," said the Rev. Charles Curran, a Catholic priest and professor at Southern Methodist University.

While Father Melito sometimes had disagreements with Catholic leaders, he was also respectful of the magisterium.

"Although he might have disagreed with some of the things they might have said or done, he was very respectful of them," Mr. Kelly said. "I really believe he was a man of God."

In the sermon that marked his 40th anniversary as a priest, Father Melito remarked on the "success and failure, excitement and disappointment" he had experienced during his career.

"I had experienced the one brief shining moment immediately after Vatican II with all the hope and enthusiasm for the future," he told his congregation, referring to Catholic reforms adopted in the 1960s. "Then the bottom dropped out with the exodus of so many nuns and priests; with the retrenchment, centralism and legalism, dashing the hopes of those who worked so faithfully for a collegial, collaborative and inclusive church.

"People ask me why I stayed in. I facetiously give them a scriptural answer: 'To dig I am unable; to beg I am ashamed.' Actually I stay in because of people like you."

Father Melito preached and worked for equality on many levels – between races, sexes and economic groups – said David Judd, a friend of 45 years.

"He was a man of God in that he thought those things were more consistent with the teachings of Gospels, the teachings of Jesus, as well as the Old Testament prophets," Mr. Judd said. "He was very sympathetic to the needs of people, with Christian love his guiding principle in what he did for other people."

Father Melito's ministry included working with the impoverished. One conversation about the poor stands out in Mr. Judd's memory.

"He looked at me and said, 'They are my bosses,' " Mr. Judd said. "He really had a big heart."

Born in New Orleans, Father Melito completed his high school education at St. Vincent College in Cape Girardeau, Mo. He studied for the Vincentian Order of Priests at St. Mary's Seminary in Perryville, Mo., where he received his bachelor's degree in scholastic philosophy in 1964. He earned a master's degree in Latin at De Paul University in the late 1960s and in psychology from Texas Woman's University in 1977.

He was ordained to the Vincentian priesthood at a mission in Perryville on May 24, 1964.

His first assignment was as prefect of discipline at the Regina Cleri Seminary in Tucson, Ariz., where he taught Latin, English and religion.

In 1968, he moved to Texas as spiritual director of St. John Seminary in San Antonio, where he also taught Latin and religion.

Later that year, he returned to Perryville, where he was associate pastor of St. Vincent Parish.

In 1969, he moved to Dallas, where he served several area parishes before joining St. Bernard. He was associate pastor at Holy Trinity Parish in Dallas from 1969 to 1975. He was then chaplain at the Federal Correctional Institution in Seagoville, while serving as chaplain-in-residence at the motherhouse of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Irving.

On July 16, 1981, he was incardinated as a priest of the Diocese of Dallas. He was assigned to St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Lancaster before serving as associate pastor of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Richardson from 1983 to 1992. He was then pastor of St. Luke Catholic Church in Irving for three years, before becoming pastor of St. Bernard of Clairvaux in 1995.

Father Melito learned he was terminally ill in December, after seeking treatment for a vision problem. He thought he might need cataract surgery. Tests, however, revealed a brain tumor.

Initially devastated by his terminal prognosis, Father Melito prepared his scheduled liturgy for students at the Notre Dame Special School in Dallas, where he was the longtime chaplain.

"He went down there and said, 'I couldn't feel sorry for myself anymore, and I decided right then that they would sing at my funeral,' " Dr. Curran said.

While Father Melito had received professional hospice care since Dec. 23, much of his care came from the people across North Texas he had served, "who were returning that love that he had shown," Mr. Judd said.

Father Melito kept his sense of humor to the very end.

"When he was on his deathbed ... I thanked him for being so kind to me," Mr. Kelly said. "I said, 'I imagine that you treated me as well as the bishop treated you.'

"He was going in and out of consciousness, and he woke up and looked at me and said, 'I treated you better.' "

Father Melito lived what he preached, Mr. Kelly said.

"What he was in his personal life was exactly what he was on the altar and his priestly life," he said.

Father Melito will lie in state from 3 to 7 p.m. today at St. Bernard. A wake will be held and a rosary recited, beginning at 7 tonight at St. Bernard. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Bernard.

He will be buried with the School Sisters of Notre Dame at Calvary Hill Cemetery.

Father Melito is survived by two brothers, the Rev. Ignatius "Jack" Melito of St. Louis and John Melito of New Orleans.

Memorials may be made to a scholarship fund in Father Melito's name at the St. Bernard Catholic School, 1404 Old Gate Lane, Dallas, Texas 75218.