Thomas Jerome Welsh - Priesthood

Priesthood

On May 30, 1946, Welsh was ordained a priest by Cardinal Dennis Dougherty at the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul. He was then sent to continue his studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he earned a doctorate in canon law in 1949. During his summers at the Catholic University, he served as a curate at St. Paul Church in Philadelphia, Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Philadelphia, and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Doylestown.

In 1949, Welsh became a professor at Southeast Catholic High School (now St. John Neumann High School) in Philadelphia. He was assigned as a curate at Holy Child Church in Philadelphia in 1951, and named a member of the Archdiocesan Metropolitan Marriage Tribunal in 1958. He was appointed vice-chancellor of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1963. He was raised to the rank of Monsignor by Pope Paul VI in September 1965, and became rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in 1966. During his tenure as rector, he oversaw an extensive revision of the curriculum, which earned the seminary accreditation with the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools; the construction of a new theology wing named Vianney Hall; and the establishment the School of Religious Studies and the School of Pastoral Studies.