Father Carl Kish- 62nd Jubilee

Headshot of Father Karl Kish

Carl Kish was ordained a priest of Youngstown Diocese May 26, 1962, in St. Columba Cathedral by Bishop Emmet Walsh. Having retired in 2023, he most recently served as the longtime pastor of St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in Cortland.

A Youngstown native, he attended St.  Matthias School and graduated from Ursuline High School before attending St. Gregory and Mount St. Mary’s of the West seminaries in Cincinnati. 

Following ordination, Father Kish’s first assignment was as assistant pastor of Holy Family Parish in Poland, where he first became involved in ecumenical ministry. In 1965, when he was named associate pastor at Immaculate Conception Parish in Ravenna. While there, he was named Portage deanery director of CYO. He also headed the Ravenna Ministerial Association and helped establish a clergy-youth program at Ravenna High School and Brown Junior High. In addition, he served as a chaplain at Robinson Memorial Hospital, Ravenna, as well as the Portage County Home. Father Kish was later named to the Robinson Memorial Hospital Board.

In 1975, he began training at Fairview General Hospital, Cleveland, for hospital chaplaincy while living at Assumption Parish in Geneva.

He took further chaplaincy training at Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia, before being assigned as temporary administrator of St. Joseph Parish in Newton Falls in early 1977.

Later that year, he was named pastor of St. Joseph Parish. During his tenure there, Father Kish belonged to the Newton Falls Ministerial Association and worked with the association in response to the 1985 tornado, which devastated much of the community. The association helped  support rebuilding and disaster relief efforts. He also established CYO basketball and other activities. During that time,  Father Kish served on the diocesan Board of Education  he also served as chaplain of the local Knights of Columbus Council.

In July 1987, Father Kish was appointed pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church (now Our Lady of Peace Parish) in Ashtabula, but resigned for reasons of health that September. After a period of recovery, he was named pastor of St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in Cortland in July 1988. As pastor he also became involved with the local ministerial association—which fosters efforts to help the poor, organizes pulpit exchanges among the various denominations, and seeks to build community. He also helped develop the parish’s active youth ministry. He retired in 2023.

Father Kish in retirement resides in Rootstown. He continues to practice sacramental ministry and  occasionally offers a class.

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