Mick Mulvany
Growing up with Catholicism, the new priest of Holy Family Catholic Church has always been a man of faith.
Having spent time preaching in several areas of Kansas, Mick Mulvany is also no stranger to small town life.
Everything started back when he grew up with four brothers and four sisters in a Catholic home down the street from their local church. Faith was everything, and he was involved with their local parish church from an early age.
“I don’t know what it would be like to live without faith or without that kind of upbringing because everything important that we did when I was growing up had to do with the church,” Mulvany said.
Even though he was involved with the church his entire childhood, it wasn’t his initial plan to become a priest.
After he finished high school, he decided to attend Rockhurst University and started studies to become a dentist. Upon the discovery that he disliked having his hands in mouths, he decided to switch to the business school.
He ended up earning his bachelor’s degree in business at Rockhurst and went on to work with banks, but it wasn’t the best fit.
He knew again it was time for change, so he decided to try seminary school for a year and see where that went. Upon finding a good crowd in the school, he decided to stay another year, and consistently did that until it was time to make a decision whether he wanted to fully start priesthood or find another path in life.
Mulvany decided to go home and reflect upon this because, at the time, he did not think he was going to stay and continue his journey. He decided to call his oldest brother Kevin to get some advice about the situation.
“I asked him how he knew when he was standing at the altar that he was supposed to marry his wife,” Mulvany said. “He said he felt like that’s the way that life is going, but at some point you have to make a leap of faith.”
That made some sense to him, and he realized it was time to make that step and commit to the life of trying to help people find the kingdom.
After he graduated from Saint Meinrad School of Theology, he started his priesthood as an associate pastor at Cure’ of Ars Catholic Church in Leawood, Kansas, in July 1988. Then he made several stops around Kansas including Topeka, Osage City and Lapeer.
At his most recent stop before his move to Eudora, he preached at Corpus Christi parish in Lawrence for 16 years.
Working on a lot of big projects like finishing the school and gymnasium at Corpus Christi were some of Mulvany’s favorite times.
As he met a variety of families and became immersed in the community; he enjoyed his time at Corpus Christi before moving to Holy Family.
Before making that transition, however, Mulvany took a year-long sabbatical during the pandemic. Initially he planned to spend time in several different places, including Ireland and Chicago, but due to the pandemic all of that was canceled.
Instead, he worked on a project with the Heartland Community Health Center in Lawrence. He was approached by some close friends asking him to help with fundraising for the project.
A lot of his experiences that he learned while earning his bachelor’s in business translated to the fundraising aspects of the church, so he translated that to this project.
“Having some business background is a plus, and (it’s) something that they really don’t teach at seminary school,” Mulvany said. “It felt good to be a part of something that is going to help out the Douglas County community for years and years to come.”
Fundraising and improving the church is something Mulvany said he is looking forward to working on in Eudora at Holy Family.
There are several projects that need to be worked on, but for the time being getting to know the community of Eudora is on the top of his agenda.
Church member Janet Campbell said Mulvany has been a welcome addition.
“I’m so glad he’s here not only at Holy Family, but living in Eudora as well,” she said.
Reach reporter Bradley Yendro at [email protected].
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