Parish says goodbye to married priest

Bill and Linda Lowe

The Rev. William Lowe may have left Padre Serra Parish in Camarillo, but the recently ordained priest didn't have to look very far for his new assignment.

The first married man to be ordained in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Lowe is the new chaplain at the Naval Base Ventura County in Point Mugu. He began his work on the base earlier this month.

In recognition of his time at Padre Serra as both a parishioner and an associate priest, nearly 200 Camarillo residents bid farewell to Lowe and his wife, Linda, at a breakfast at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Oxnard last Saturday. Lowe, who served as an Episcopal priest for 27 years in Massachusetts, could be ordained into the Catholic priesthood because of a pastoral provision issued by the late Pope John Paul II that allows former Episcopalian priests to become Catholic priests. He began the process toward Catholic priesthood in 2002 while still living on the East Coast. A year later, he and his wife moved to Camarillo, where they joined Padre Serra Parish. Lowe studied for nearly six years to earn his priesthood and was ordained by Cardinal Roger Mahony in May 2007.

Deacon John Mecozzi and Bishop Thomas J. Curry are credited with helping Lowe through his ordination as both a deacon and as a priest. "Father Bill filled hearts with his joyous spirit and was always available to those in need," said Georgene Boyd, a parishioner at Padre Serra and one of the organizers of the farewell breakfast. "He had a special gift with the sick, the elderly and young people."