Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2009 / Fr. Berg leaves legacy of passion, simplicity, authenticity
Fr. Berg leaves legacy of passion, simplicity, authenticity
by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published February 6, 2009
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Photo courtesy of Sacred Heart Major Seminary
Fr. Paul Berg taught philosophy at Sacred Heart Major Seminary for decades. Nearly every priest in the archdiocese was taught by him at some point. |
Detroit For more than 50 years, Fr. Paul Berg was a mainstay at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, teaching philosophy and coaching basketball and golf.
Following his death Monday, Jan. 26, at age 87, his friends remembered him as a private, simple man who taught and coached with enthusiasm.
Celebrating Fr. Berg's funeral was one of the first duties of Archbishop Allen Vigneron, installed only two days before. "His death is a real loss," the archbishop said at a press conference before his installation. "He was a very demanding teacher, always very organized, very good, and just an exemplary priest.
"He can be epitomized as the high-quality presbyterate in Detroit."
Fr. Berg was known for working for civil rights; in 1965, he traveled to Selma, Ala., with Fr. William Cunningham, co-founder of Focus: HOPE, and a few other faculty members and seminarians, remembered Msgr. Edward Baldwin, a retired priest who lives at the seminary. Fr. Berg did rally the Sacred Heart community for a subsequent civil rights march in Detroit, even though the group took on some verbal abuse, Msgr. Baldwin said.
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Photo courtesy of Sacred Heart Major Seminary
Fr. Berg was known for coaching sports with the same passion that he brought to the classroom. |
Fr. Berg was also known for teaching the vast majority of priests in the archdiocese; many of the priest faculty at Sacred Heart who worked with Fr. Berg took classes from him in their formation years. Fr. Tim Birney, archdiocesan director of vocations, said Fr. Berg is a person "who will continue to 'teach' me until the day of my own parting from this world."
"He was a private man, but also a man of deep faith, intellect, humor and love of the Church," Fr. Birney remembered.
Fr. Birney said Fr. Berg loved Notre Dame University, and would enjoy chatting about Notre Dame sports, especially football and basketball, with Fr. Birney's father, a Notre Dame graduate. And Fr. Berg loved coaching sports as well as talking about them.
"He loved being the basketball coach for Sacred Heart Seminary," Fr. Birney remembered. "He coached with as much enthusiasm, dedication to the craft, and pride as he did teaching philosophy in the classroom."
Fr. Berg was also known for being a private man who shied away from the spotlight. In fact, even in a story about his 60th jubilee, he declined to be interviewed, and the story had to be told through the large crowd that gathered in his honor the 720 hot dogs ordered hadn't lasted an hour and how inspirational he had been to them.
Fr. Richard Cassidy, sacred Scripture professor at the seminary, said Fr. Berg also chose to live a simple life, keeping clothing and other personal possessions to a minimum.
"One of the very commendable and noteworthy aspects of Fr. Berg was his commitment to live in an unadorned way," Fr. Cassidy said. "He maintained a car that was safe for driving but one that was certainly far from new or stylish.
In our materialistic culture, he gave splendid witness to the truth of Jesus' teachings regarding a simple lifestyle."
Fr. Robert Spezia, theology professor at the seminary, said Fr. Berg has made quite an impact on the priests of the archdiocese, considering how many he taught over the years. "He was a man who loved our Lord and the Blessed Sacrament," he said. "He was devoted to the Stations of the Cross and the rosary, and had a very deep commitment to the poor of the city. He's a great model to our seminarians."
Fr. James Kean, pastor of St. Alfred Parish, Taylor, remembered how Fr. Berg used metaphors to break down often-complicated philosophy to what he called the "meat and potatoes," the central issues. "If you didn't get it, he would work with you," Fr. Kean remembered.
However, there was always a bit of fear that you would find Fr. Berg teaching down to your level "That meant you were the weakest link," Fr. Kean laughed.
"He had the 'leave-no-one-behind' philosophy before it became vogue," he said. "He wanted to make sure that as a student, you 'got' the material and moved forward."
Archbishop John Nienstedt, formerly of Detroit and now chief shepherd to the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, is among those taught by Fr. Berg, 20 years before he became the seminary's ninth rector in 1989 and then worked with him. "Fr. Paul Berg was an excellent professor, a loyal colleague and a wonderfully caring human being," he said. "His keen intelligence was spent on probing the depths of philosophy.
"He made time for every student or parishioner who needed his attention. He had a passion for basketball, and the men he coached loved his advice and direction.
"He was a wonderful priest who will surely be missed."
Fr. Birney said Fr. Berg not only "educated and formed the vast majority of priests in the Archdiocese of Detroit," but taught outside of the classroom, too by his example. "His 'teaching' will endure for many generations to come," he said.
Even Archbishop Vigneron alluded to the great number of priests in the Archdiocese of Detroit and other dioceses who were taught by Fr. Berg. In fact, the student lounge at Sacred Heart is named after him, with a nod to his Irish heritage: It's called O'Berg's.
Fr. Kean, who also played basketball for Fr. Berg, said the two big lessons he learned from Fr. Berg where to be authentic "With Fr. Berg, what you saw was what you got," he said and to be passionate. "He'd dive into the activity, whether it was practicing basketball in the gymnasium or working through Thomastic philosophy in the classroom," Fr. Kean remembered. "He had a passion for all of his activities in life."
He said it wasn't a surprise when Fr. Berg asked that he not receive visitors just before he died, when he was in hospice. "The way he lived his life, he was a humble, humble man who looked for no extra attention," he said. "He's looking down now. Now he's looking at his students from a different angle."
Fr. Berg was born Oct. 26, 1921, in Detroit, to Emil and Eileen (Clemens) Berg. He was ordained May 22, 1948. His studies included undergraduate work at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C, followed by graduate studies there and Ph.D. work at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquainas in Rome, which he completed with a licentiate in theology in 1955.
Fr. Berg's many assignments included serving as weekend assistant at Mother of Our Savior Parish, Detroit; Our Lady of Loretto Parish, Redford; St. Benedict Parish, Highland Park; St. Hugo of the Hills Parish, Bloomfield Hills; St. Kenneth Parish, Plymouth; St. Rita Parish, Detroit; and Cardinal Leger Community Parish, Detroit.
He also served as associate pastor at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament (1948-53); associate pastor at St. Patrick Parish, Detroit (1953-54); associate pastor at St. Aloysius Parish, Detroit (1954); and administrator of St. Paul (Albanian) Parish (1985-88). He had also served on the Presbyteral Council.
Fr. Berg also helped organize seminarians' visits of the archdiocese-run mission in Recife, Brazil, and served as chaplain for a local chapter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, an Irish Catholic lay organization. He achieved senior priest status July 1, 1996, but continued to teach.
His funeral Mass was Friday, Jan. 30 at Sacred Heart, with burial following at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Southfield.
Survivors include a sister, Sr. Barbara Berg, IHM; sister-in-law, Betsy Berg-Jachman; and nephews John (Patricia), Paul (Susan), and James, and their children. Condolences to Sr. Barbara Berg, IHM, 15603 Northline Road, Southgate, 48195.
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