Msgr. Edward Kavanagh has always kept a close eye on his flock.

Just about the first thing the strapping 23-year-old Irish-born priest did upon arriving at his first assignment at St. Rose Parish in Sacramento was volunteer to drive a bus gathering up neighborhood children on Saturdays and delivering them to their religious education classes.

“It’s the best thing I ever did because I got to know all the kids — their families, where they were from,” said Msgr. Kavanagh, who made sure his young parishioners were well-acquainted with their Catholic faith. “If I honked the horn and stopped the bus, they knew they were in trouble,” he recalls.

Now after 58 years of service at St. Rose Parish, Msgr. Kavanagh will retire on Dec. 1.

Msgr. Kavanagh, 81, has accepted a new responsibility from Bishop William K. Weigand to head up a task force to study the need and feasibility for a larger sanctuary for Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish on diocesan property adjacent to St. Rose Parish.

The best news for St. Rose parishioners is that Msgr. Kavanagh, who has served as their pastor for 44 years and parochial vicar for 14 years prior to that, will continue to live and minister at St. Rose as pastor emeritus.

Since Msgr. Kavanagh’s arrival at St. Rose in 1948, the parish site has really come to resemble a village. There is the traditional church, rectory, St. Patrick School, and a parish hall, but also residential care and foster care programs for children and a thrift store, all with parking lots filled to overflowing.

The spirit of the place may not be much different from the small Irish village of Urlingford in Kilkenny County where Msgr. Kavanagh was born and raised, one of four children born to devout Catholic parents.

As a youth his passion was the Irish national sport of hurling, which he played in college and as a member of Kilkenny County’s championship team.

Much of his time was spent helping out with his family’s bus transport and newspaper distribution businesses.

The young Irishman’s vocational plans to become a banker were forgotten after some of his friends, who were seminarians, encouraged Msgr. Kavanagh to consider a vocation to religious life.

Listening to vocations directors speak about missions to China, Japan and Africa changed everything. “There was the appeal of helping people less fortunate,” he said.

Upon learning that the United States was experiencing a serious shortage of priests, Msgr. Kavanagh joined eight other Irish priests destined to serve in the Diocese of Sacramento.

From the moment he arrived at St. Rose in 1948, it was a comfortable fit.

“St. Rose was always special — the people, the Sisters of Mercy, and the kids who are still my friends,” Msgr. Kavanagh said. “There were kids that needed you.”

He would work from 1954 to 2005 as director of St. Patrick’s Home for Children, a social welfare agency providing residential and educational services.

Frank Victorio, who was abandoned by his natural parents and given up by his adoptive parents at the age of five, considers himself one of the lucky ones to end up at St. Patrick’s.

“Msgr. Kavanagh was basically my dad, always there for me,” said Victorio, who is certain he would never have made it through confirmation classes were it not for the priest who refused to give up on him.

“It was his caring, his love. He believed in you,” Victorio said. “I was in and out of juvenile hall as a teen, and he was always in the courtroom, fighting my case.”

The founder and co-director of the Moral Values Program, a non-profit learning center for at-risk children, Victorio now mentors another generation of children. “I never give up with my kids either,” he said.

It is probably not a coincidence that four other boys, who all grew up in the St. Rose Parish neighborhood during Msgr. Kavanagh’s tenure, chose a vocation to the priesthood.

One is Father Troy Powers, parochial vicar of Presentation Parish in Sacramento.

Father Powers describes the Irish priest as “the spiritual father of south Sacramento,” the person primarily responsible for his own decision to dedicate his life to serving God. “Msgr. Kavanagh is the one peremptory strike in my life,” said Father Powers. “It is because of his example and mentoring. He is the person he is presenting himself to be, and lives it out in daily life.”

During the 44 years Msgr. Kavanagh has served as pastor, St. Rose Parish has expanded its Sunday Mass schedule from three to 12 Masses and more than 16,000 people have been baptized in the church.

“He believes in what he is doing and when he commits, he commits forever,” Father Powers said.

In addition to the original 1932 vintage buildings, since Msgr. Kavanagh’s arrival a church rectory was built in 1956, the Cornelia administrative building was constructed in 1966, and the Msgr. Kavanagh Community Center was completed in 1982.

People who know Msgr. Kavanagh best describe him as not only committed to people and causes he believes in, but as one of the most successful fund-raisers they’ve ever met.

Lenore Mullarkey, director of the Bishop Gallegos Maternity Home in Sacramento, said the home for unwed mothers became a reality due to the teamwork of the late Bishop Alphonse Gallegos and Msgr. Kavanagh.

“Msgr. Kavanagh told us we just needed to do it. We needed to step out in faith,” she said. “He tells it the way it is.”

Doug Sherman, president of Immaculate Heart Radio, which runs KSMH 1620 AM, the Sacramento Catholic radio station, totally agrees.

“We would not have Catholic radio if not for Msgr. Kavanagh,” said Sherman, who credits the Irish priest’s extraordinary fund-raising abilities with launching the radio station. “We’ve heard from hundreds of people coming back to the church, so the fruits of his work have been incredible.”

For Margaret Hinshaw, a member of the board of directors of the Sacramento Diocesan Council of Catholic Women, the hallmark of Msgr. Kavanagh is his integrity.

“He stands up for what is right,” said Hinshaw of Msgr. Kavanagh, who has served as moderator of the SDCCW since 1956. “We’re hoping he stays on with us.”

Arlene Martin, parish secretary, sees a pastor who has left an indelible imprint on both a church and its people.

“Some say he’s a saint, and I agree. I just know he’s a most compassionate person,” she said. “He is this place.”

Msgr. James Church, current pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Sacramento, has been appointed by Bishop Weigand as the new pastor of St. Rose effective Dec. 1.

A priest from the Legionaries of Christ, the religious order that has provided priests to staff Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish for the past six years, will assist Msgr. Kavanagh in his new role and provide staff support for the feasibility study for the Our Lady of Guadalupe project.

The public is invited to a “reception of remembrance” to honor Msgr. Kavanagh on Sunday, Nov. 26, from 2 to 6 p.m. in the Msgr. Kavanagh Community Center at St. Rose Parish at 5905 Franklin Blvd. in Sacramento.

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