Fr. Jeremiah Singleton
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Born July 16, 1941, on a farm in County Cork, Ireland, Father Singleton aspired to the priesthood from seeing priests who visited from many nations. He studied at St. Patrick's Seminary in Thurles, County Tipperary, was ordained in September 1965, and set off for South Florida. He was assigned first to St. Helen in Vero Beach, where he acquired a heart for agricultural workers and the underprivileged.
That orientation would later guide his work at Sacred Heart in Homestead, San Isidro in Pompano Beach, the Pompano Beach Labor Camp and Our Lady of Guadalupe in Immokalee. While in Immokalee, he recognized he had an alcohol addiction and sought professional counseling.That led him to learn how to help others out of substance abuse. He studied the subject at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, then St. Mary's University in San Antonio. On returning to South Florida, he worked at Palm Beach Institute, became clinical director of Anon Anew in Boca Raton and eventually executive director of the Hanley-Hazelden Center, West Palm Beach. He later served at St. Joan of Arc in Boca Raton and most recently at St. Anthony, from where he retired July 1, 2014. [Father Singleton died in Ireland Nov. 24, 2023.]
How his work with migrants influenced his ministry:
"With migrants, you come to realize what is really significant in your life. The day-to-day story about the migrants was survival — for rent, for food. They always gravitated to the Church. We also had to become their advocates for the state. All that opens you up to what it means to survive and be a human being. And how you're aided by the spiritual."
How alcohol addiction affected his ministry:
"It informs your whole life. I got into AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and it gave me a whole new understanding of my vulnerability, and how you're not an island unto yourself. And (it provided) a new understanding of God the Father. Prior to that, it was 'Do you believe that God loves you?' But through AA, I experienced it. That influenced my relationship with God, and how I related to others."
What the seminary did not prepare him for:
"The professors had been educated in Rome, so through no fault of their own, they had no idea of the American Church and not much understanding what was going on in American society."
' You get the sense that (Pope Francis) knows how to run a parish.'
Culture shock on coming to U.S.:
"A big cultural shock. Suddenly, you're out here and totally free, and trying to manage your freedom in a responsible way. And how the people viewed Church and priests was very different. … You never saw a priest (in Ireland) except at Mass, and people stayed at a distance. Here, people saw the priest as approachable. They'd invite you to their house."
Hardest part of being a priest:
"Trying to be as available as possible, and trying to be all things to all people. That can eat you up over time. You hope you have enough spiritual life to sustain you."
Biggest challenge facing the Church today:
"To become relevant, to help people make sense of the Gospel message in their daily lives. That gets beyond a lot of the regulations and laws that some people can get caught up in."
Favorite vacation spot:
"Back home in Ireland, on the home farm. And I play a lot of golf, if weather permits. I tell people that overnight, I become the laziest person in the world."
Favorite TV series:
"I watch the news and golf and ESPN. I follow the Dolphins."
Father Jerry Singleton is seen here at the PGA National Charity Golf Tournament in 1990.
Favorite type of music:
"I like Irish music and light classical music, and some country-western. It's like Irish ballads."
Person he most admires:
"Pope Francis. He's the first one that I'm aware of who has a sense of the pastoral. Francis' sermons are very down to earth. You get the sense that he knows how to run a parish."
Something most people don't know about him:
"There are times I seem to be vain. I take maybe too much pride in accomplishments."
Regrets:
"Maybe one would be that I didn't go into recovery from alcohol sooner. I could have saved myself and others a lot of pain if I'd done it even three or four years earlier."
Advice for others considering the priesthood:
"Learn to serve people. Forget about fancy vestments and vessels. Put into your head that you're going to serve."
