Deceased: 2010-08-10
Diocese: OGDENSBURG
ICTE Fall: 1992
Monsignor Anthony A. Milia, pastor of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church for 30 years, died Tuesday in a Syracuse hospital. He was 84.
Monsignor Milia held many key positions in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ogdensburg during his 51-year ministry, which began with his ordination in May 1950.
He was born April 11, 1926, in Ogdensburg, son of Anthony and Grace LaMacchia Milia. His birth occurred on Easter. He attended Ogdensburg schools and graduated from St. Mary’s Academy in 1943. He began his preparation for the priesthood at Wadhams Hall Seminary College, Ogdensburg, in the fall of 1943. He then enrolled at St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore, Md., for his theological studies in the fall of 1946.
“I had wanted to become a priest since before I was 10 years old,” Monsignor Milia once told the Times.
He was ordained to the priesthood on May 18, 1950, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Ogdensburg, by the Most Rev. Bryan J. McEntegart, bishop of the Diocese of Ogdensburg.
In May 1971, Monsignor Milia was named by Bishop Stanislaus J. Brzana to succeed the Rev. Henry W. McFadden as pastor of St. Anthony’s Church.
He was the sixth pastor of St. Anthony’s, which was established in October 1913 to serve immigrant Italian families in Watertown.
Monsignor Milia met four Popes — Pope Pius XII, Pope John XXIII, Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II twice.
Pope Paul VI in January 1977 honored six north country priests, including Monsignor Milia, when he designated them as “Prelates of Honor of His Holiness.”
A special moment in Monsignor Milia’s ministry came when he was selected to lead a north country group to attend Pope John Paul II’s Mass at Yankee Stadium in New York City during his visit to the United States in 1979.
Monsignor Milia said he was impressed with “the pope’s concern about spreading Jesus Christ’s message to the world and how people apply unity with Jesus Christ and with one another.”
During his pastorate, Monsignor Milia oversaw the construction of a parish house and pavilion in 1978 and St. Anthony’s Apartments for senior citizens in 1986. By 2000, the enrollment of St. Anthony’s School had risen to nearly 200 and the parish was debt-free.
Monsignor Milia ended his pastorate at St. Anthony’s on Aug. 15, 2001. He was chosen to receive the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Ogdensburg’s 2001 Caritas Award. Monsignor Milia was honored during Mass on May 16 for the 60th anniversary of his ordination.
The Rev. Donald A. Robinson, the church’s current pastor, praised as an accomplishment Monsignor Milia’s tenure at St. Anthony’s before the Mass and reception.
“That’s really incredible when you think of that,” Father Robinson said. “That’s unheard of in today’s world. You can’t be around that many years without having an impact on people’s lives.”
