Santiago de Chile, 3 Feb, 2005

Prot. N. 30/2005

To: All the members of the Congregation

Dear brothers,

It is with great sorrow that I notify you that this morning, Feb. 3, 2005, Bishop Joseph DE PALMA, former bishop of De Aar and fifth superior general of the congregation passed away.

Bishop Joseph Anthony De Palma was born at Walton (New York) on November 4, 1913 of Italian parentage. He attended primary and secondary schools at Rome (New York), a small city to which his family moved a few years after he was born. He obtained his high school diploma there in 1931.

He continued his studies in finance, influenced by the social impact of the “great recession” of those years which brought about severe economic problems. These studies led him to pursue a degree at the Technical Institute at Chicago (Illinois).

Before feeling called to a vocation to religious life and priesthood, he worked for several years in Rome at a factory which made products in copper and brass. Only in 1937 did decide to enter our minor seminary at Donaldson (Indiana). Two years later he was admitted to his first profession on October 1, 1939. Priestly ordination took place on May 20, 1944.

Immediately after his ordination, he was named socius to the novice master and then superior of the novitiate. In 1952 he became superior of the theologate at Hales Corners, Wisconsin. In 1955, he became the provincial superior of the US province and, shortly thereafter, superior general of the congregation in 1959 which he directed and animated chiefly through his example and with a serene optimism rather than by an excess of words. These were the years of Vatican Council II at which he participated with singular interest and with a great spirit of faith. He was one of the general superiors invited to take part at the council.

In 1967, he left this task of superior general because he was named bishop of the new missionary diocese of De Aar in South Africa on April 13, 1967 and consecrated bishop on July 19 later in the same year. It was a task to which he was greatly devoted for about 20 years.

Leaving the diocese due to the mandatory retirement age, in response to a question about how much the direction of a missionary diocese took out of him, he responded with great humility: “Personally, I lead a very simple life…It was the front line priests who did all the work. I merely supported them. They are the ones who deserve the credit for all that happened in the diocese.” After his resignation was accepted, he returned to the USA and resided in our community at Pinellas Park in Florida.

In the name of the general administration and the entire Dehonian Family, I thank the Lord for the gift given us in the person of Bishop De Palma who gave his life to service of our congregation (in his mission as superior general) and to the local church of De Aar (with his episcopal service to this missionary diocese). He was both missionary and bishop, generous and thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Fr. Dehon. He was just one of a number of missionaries filled with ardor, dedication, and joy that the US province gave to the church and to the congregation during a time of heightened missionary outreach.

Special suffrages are due him on behalf of the general administration and his province of origin. According to what is indicated in the General Directory (69, 3) of the congregation, I invite every priest to celebrate one mass for his intentions which can be celebrated in community fashion and in which all the other members can offer their prayers.

In the name of the entire congregation I offer my condolences to all Bishop De Palma’s family members, to the US province which generously made him available for service to the entire congregation and to the diocese of De Aar.

May the Lord receive our brother, Bishop Joseph Anthony DE PALMA into the joy and peace of those who are the faithful and devoted servants of his Heart.

In the Heart of Jesus and Mary,

Fr. Jose Ornelas Carvalho, scj

Superior General