TACOMA — In his 50 years of serving Native people, Jesuit Father Patrick Twohy “has touched countless lives and left an indelible mark on all who have known him,” St. Leo the Great Parish said on its Facebook page Aug. 13.

Father Twohy, 84, was honored that day with a retirement celebration at the parish, where he has served Native American Catholics and their Kateri Circle since 2006, said Joan Staples-Morin, a St. Leo parishioner who helped start the circle in 1986. 

“He just has this wonderful ability to connect with people. He’s amazing,” said Staples-Morin, an elder who first met Father Twohy four decades ago on the Colville Reservation in north-central Washington.

Jesuit Father Patrick Twohy celebrates Mass for the Native community at St. Leo Church in Tacoma. Concelebrating is Jesuit Father Elias Puentes, pastor of St. Leo Parish. (Courtesy St. Leo Facebook)

The Kateri Circle provides “a safe and welcoming environment for Native Americans to practice and promote Native American spirituality and St. Kateri Tekakwitha within the Catholic Church,” according to the St. Leo website. St. Kateri is the first Native American woman canonized by the church.

Father Twohy has been the circle’s spiritual director, said Eugena Buena-Douglas, also a St. Leo parishioner. “He always let us take the lead as Native people,” she said. “We feel like we’re empowered by Father Pat to go beyond what we thought we could do.”

Jesuit Father Patrick Twohy with St. Leo parishioner Eugena Buena-Douglas. (Courtesy Eugena Buena-Douglas)

On Facebook, parishioners thanked Father Twohy “for being a guiding light, a source of strength, and a true inspiration for embracing diversity and the cultures you serve. You will be missed, but your legacy will live on in the lives you’ve touched.”

Father Twohy sees it as the Native peoples’ lives that have touched him.

“I immediately had a profound love for the people and learned from them,” Father Twohy said.

He calls it a “fishing net” full of relationships and respect — a bond built with “love, friendship and our spiritual gifts.”

It was while serving in campus ministry at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Father Twohy said, that he was “moved by the Spirit” to visit the Colville Reservation. He stayed.

“It was the greatest decision of my life, an honor and a privilege to be a part of people’s life,” he said.

Father Twohy later lived with and served the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community near La Conner and the Tulalip Tribes (of which he is an honorary member) near Marysville.

He learned Lushootseed, a Native language, and the Native spiritual traditions, connecting them with the Catholic faith.

Members of the Native community stand before the altar with Jesuit Father Patrick Twohy, second from right, during Mass Aug. 13 at St. Leo Church in Tacoma. (Courtesy St. Leo Facebook)

Native people “have an abiding trust in the sacred, the most holy, the Creator,” Father Twohy said. They care for each other and are “generous, kind and understanding toward one another and others.”

Most recently, Father Twohy, who resided at Seattle University, was chaplain of Urban Native American Catholic Ministry. In addition to the Kateri Circle at St. Leo, he served the Chief Seattle Club, a Native-led housing and human services agency.

He also authored two books focused on Native and Catholic traditions and beliefs, “A Meditation on Coast Salish Lifeways” and “Finding a Way Home: Indian and Catholic Spiritual Paths of Plateau Tribes.”

Even though he’s 84, Father Twohy said he reluctantly accepts the title “elder” because elders “have all the answers” and he is still learning.

This fall, he will move to the Jesuit Care Center in Los Gatos, California. 

The news of Father Twohy’s retirement “comes with a sense of sadness, and with a profound sense of gratitude for the decades of tireless commitment, love, and service to the Native American Communities, and to all who called upon Fr. Pat for help,” Jesuit Father Elias Puentes, pastor of St. Leo, said in a letter to Kateri Circle members.

“I know there are concerns about the future of our Native American ministry which will require future prayer and discernment,” Father Puentes wrote. “Let us entrust this transition to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha.”

Starting in October, Staples-Morin said, Mass for the Native community will be celebrated on the last Sunday of the month; the Kateri Circle will continue meeting at St. Leo.

Learn more about Father Patrick Twohy

Watch: American Indian Republic — Jesuit on the Red Road: A Conversation with Fr. Patrick Twohy

Read: Jesuits West — Fr. Pat Twohy, SJ: Encountering the Holy