REV. RICHARD J. BUTLER

BUTLER, Rev. Richard J. 76, of Boston, on September 30, 2012. Son of the late Matthew and Katherine (Morrison) Butler. Brother of Matthew Butler of Florida, Mary Mullaney of Dennis and Florida, Rev. Robert Butler of Boston, and the late Charles Butler. Uncle of Katherine Mattson of Dennis, David Butler of Brockton, Charles Butler and Paul Butler of Colorado, Sheila Butler of California, Maureen Butler L'Heureux of Dorchester, John Butler of West Bridgewater, Christine Oskirko of Harvard, Marie Mullaney of Connecticut, Theresa Renaud of California, and Caroline Mullaney of Virginia. Granduncle of Shawna Butler of Boston, Theresa Bickford of Scituate, Kristen Mattson of Braintree, Kaitlyn L'Heureux of Marstons Mills, Maura Butler of Quincy, Thomas Butler of Colorado, Shannon Butler and Patrick Butler of West Bridgewater, Matthew Renaud and Erin Seidell of California, Thomas Foran, Lynne Foran and Luke Foran of Connecticut, and Ross Merrick and James Merrick of Virginia. Great GrandUncle of Elise Marie Bickford of Scituate. A Priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, ordained February 2, 1962 Associate St. Mary's Foxboro 1962-1966, Blessed Sacrament Cambridge 1966-1970, Our Lady of Sorrows Sharon 1970-1975, and Holy Family Rockland 1981-1985, Chaplain Archbishop Williams High School 1978-1981, Pastor of Immaculate Conception Cambridge, Arlington and Somerville 1985-1989, Sacred Heart Lexington 1989-1994, St. Timothy Norwood 1996-1999, and St. Isidore Stow1999-2006, Administrator of St. Lawrence Chestnut Hill 1994-1996, and Incarnation Melrose and Saugus 2009, Director of the Office of the Permanent Diaconate 1994-1996, senior priest in residence St. Mary of the Assumption Brookline 2006-2011, resident at Regina Cleri in Boston since 2011. Alumnus of Randall Morris School, West Roxbury, Boston Latin School ('54), Holy Cross College ('58), St. John Seminary ('62), Catholic University of America ('78), and Boston University ('83). Active in the liturgical movement for many years, he directed the seminarian workshops at the National Liturgical Weeks from 1959 to 1962. He was secretary of the New England Liturgical Committee from 1959 to 1984. A member of the board of directors of the national Liturgical Conference 1967 to 1970, he was a charter member of the North American Academy of Liturgy and the Catholic Academy of Liturgy and, in 1977, was admitted to the international Societas Liturgica. In 1970 he was appointed executive secretary of the Boston Liturgical Commission serving until 1975. He was a columnist with the Boston Pilot from 1972 to 1997. In 1975 he was appointed the founding Director of the Center for Pastoral Liturgy, Washington DC, serving to 1978. He served on the board of directors of the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions from 1984 to 1990. He was interim director of the Office for Worship in 1989. As adjunct faculty he taught at Stonehill College, Emmanuel College, and Merrimack College. He was a member of the board of directors of the Cambridge Economic Opportunity Corporation, the Somerville Corporation, and Somerville Cambridge Elder Services. He was a member of the eighth synod of the Archdiocese of Boston and served on the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council. He participated in ecumenical activity in each of the parishes where he served, most recently with the Brookline Clergy Association, and participated in the Catholic-Jewish Dialogue at Stonehill College and the Center for the study of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations at Merrimack College. In 1989, when he became pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Lexington, the parish had a partnership with the parish school in Fonds des Blanc, Haiti. Since then he has led more than thirty trips to Haiti introducing many to the plight of poverty there and bringing medical and educational supplies. From 2002 to 2008 he served on the board of directors of the Hospice St. Joseph, a community center and medical clinic in Port au Prince, Haiti. Fr. Butler will lie-in-state at Regina Cleri Residence, 60 William Cardinal O'Connell Way, Boston on Wednesday from 2 - 4 PM and on Thursday at St. Lawrence Church, 774 Boylston St. (Route 9), Chestnut Hill from 4 - 8PM. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend. A concelebrated Funeral Mass in St. Mary of the Assumption Church, 5 Linden Pl., Brookline on Friday at 11:00AM. Principal Celebrant will be His Eminence Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, OFM, Cap. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to St. Boniface Haiti Foundation, 400 North Main St., Randolph, MA 02368. Directions and guestbook www.bellodeafuneralhome.com