Leo Thomas Sweeney

Rev. Leo Thomas Sweeney to Celebrate First Mass

The Rev. Leo Thomas Sweeney, son of Leo T. Sweeney, 513 East Fifth Street, will be ordained to the Catholic Priesthood on Ascension Thursday, May 31, in St. Andrew's Cathedral, Little Rock, Ark.

The Ordaining prelate will be the Most Reverend Albert L. Fletcher, D.D., Bishop of the Catholic diocese of Little Rock. The ordination ceremony will be held at 9 a.m.

At 11 a.m., Sunday, June 3, Rev. Sweeney will celebrate his first Solemn Mass in his parish church, St. Edward's Catholic Church here. Ministers for the Ordination Ceremony and first Mass are as follows:

The Very Reverend Monsignor Lawrence P. Graves, Ordination sponsor; the Rt. Reverend Joseph A. Murray, Arch-Priest at the Mass; the Very Reverend Monsignor James G. Evans, Pastor at St. Edward's Catholic Church, who will give the service; Rev. Reuben Groff, deacon; Justin Howard, seminarian at St. John's Seminary, will be the master of ceremonies; and Charles Harvey, also a seminarian at St. John's, will be Thurifer.

Altar boys from St. Edward's will perform the functions of Acolytes, torch bearer, cross bearers and boat bearer. They will include Ricky Thomas and Rodney Auck, acolytes, Tommy Reynolds and Peter Doherty, torch bearers, Danny Hunter, cross bearer, and Bernard Fouke, Jr. boat bearer.

Rev. Sweeney was born July 20, 1932, and received his elementary and high school education at Providence Academy, (now St. Edward's School) in Texarkana. Following his high school graduation, he attended Texarkana College in 1950 before entering the U.S. Air Force. While in the Air Force he saw duty in Texas, California, Korea, and Florida. In the fall of 1954, he enrolled at St. John's Seminary, Little Rock, Ark, where he continued his studies for the priesthood.

A reception for Rev. Sweeney will be held in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Howard, 621 East Third Street, Sunday, June 3, from 4 to 6 p.m., honoring him for the celebration of his first Mass.