Father Patrick J. Griffin, MM

Born: July 3, 1933
Ordained: June 10, 1961
Died: March 22, 1995

Father Patrick Joseph Griffin died on Wednesday, March 22, at Davao Doctors’ Hospital, Davao City, Philippines. He was 61 years of age and a Maryknoll priest for 34 years.

Patrick J. Griffin was born in the Bronx, New York on July 3, 1933, son of James and Agnes Rose Whelan Griffin. He had one brother and two sisters. He attended Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, New York. Patrick entered Maryknoll Junior Seminary, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, on June 25, 1951. In 1952, he entered Maryknoll Junior College, Lakewood, New  Jersey. On September 7, 1954, he entered Maryknoll Seminary College, Glen Ellyn, Illinois and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy on June 10, 1956. On September 1, 1956, he entered the Maryknoll Novitiate, Bedford, Massachusetts and pronounced his first Oath to the Society on June 29, 1957. After completing his studies in Theology Patrick was ordained a Maryknoll priest at Maryknoll Seminary, Ossining, New York, on June 10, 1961.

After ordination, Father Griffin was assigned to the Philippines. He served for a number of years in parish ministry in the Prelature of Tagum including a time as Parish Priest in the parishes of Manay, Nabunturan and Caraga. With the exception of his normal home leave and studies, Fr. Griffin served in the Philippines from 1961 to 1976.

On September 1, 1977, Fr. Griffin was assigned by the Superior General, Father Raymond A. Hill, to the newly established Nepal Unit with a team of four other Maryknoll priests. Fr. Griffin took time for area studies in preparation for his new mission assignment and arrived in Nepal in June of 1978. In a letter he wrote about his experience being in Nepal after many years in the Philippines: “thanks to Maryknoll, in the name of yourselves for the freedom of movement you give to the members…. I hope I can recognize the Lord when and where he appears, popping up as he does in some of the most extraordinary circumstances. Keep well and keep all of us here in your prayers and hopefully we will do likewise on this side…. we, here in Nepal ask the El Salvador martyrs to intercede for us all in our stumblings.”

In 1988, Fr. Griffin requested an assignment back to the Philippine Region from Nepal. His request was granted, effective December 6, 1988.

After returning from Nepal in 1988, Fr. Griffin worked for a period of time in Santo Nino Parish in Malangas in the province of Zamboanga del Sur in the Philippines. Since February 1992 until his death, he served as Catholic Chaplain at the Davao Doctors’ Hospital.

Wake services were held March 22, 23 and 24, 1995 at the Maryknoll Society Center House in Davao City, Philippines and a concelebrated Mass was held at St. Joseph the Worker Parish, Sasa, Davao City, on Saturday March 25, 1995 at 9:00 A.M. A memorial Mass will be held at the Society Center, Ossining, New York.