Celebrating Our Jubilarians
Fr. Thomas Long , CSV 60 Years
Fr. Daniel Mirabelli, CSV 70 Years
As Fr. Thomas Long, CSV, celebrates 60 years of religious life, he looks back on all the ways he has been able to live out his commitment to social justice and help make the world a better place.
Fr. Daniel Mirabelli, CSV, holds a unique distinction in the Viatorian Community: He was one of the first two novices to profess his vows at the new Viatorian Novitiate when it was being established in Arlington Heights, in 1952. Consequently, this year he celebrates 70 years of religious life.
“I am grateful to belong to a community that prioritizes outreach to those who are accounted of little importance,” Fr. Long says, “as well as one that encourages and supports its members to develop and utilize their God-given gifts and talents.” He professed his first vows in 1962 and then went on to complete his BA degree in history at Loyola University in Chicago. Fr. Long then headed to Washington DC to study at the Viatorian Seminary and completed a master of arts degree in European history at Catholic University of America. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 17, 1969, but it was his seminary years that remain a searing memory. Fr. Long and his classmates were studying at the Viatorian seminary in 1968 when they witnessed the fires and riots that broke out after Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. “We were firsthand witnesses to the deep divide in our country,” Fr. Long says. Thus, his lifelong commitment to social justice was born. Fr. Long taught at Bishop McNamara and Alleman high schools, before going into parish work. He was an associate pastor at St. Viator Parish in Chicago and left in 1984 to become the founding pastor of St. Thomas More Catholic Community in Henderson, NV. In 1994, Fr. Long earned his master’s degree in social work and spent the next nine years in California working with members of the HIV/AIDS community, with the homeless and administrating a recovery program. When he returned to the Viatorian Province Center in 2003, Fr. Long became involved in the Viatorians’ communications efforts. He continues to edit both its external and internal newsletters. But he also serves in nearly one dozen social justice initiatives, mostly dedicated to accompanying immigrants and working toward immigration reform. www.viatorians.com
All but 14 of those years have been spent at one institution: Alleman High School in Rock Island, IL, where he is their beloved “little ol’ priest” and the feeling is mutual. “I have enjoyed all my years at Alleman,” Fr. Mirabellis says. “It is a great school and I thank the Viatorians who are the key people who have been very good to me and let me stay at Alleman.” Over the course of his 50 years at the school, Fr. Mirabelli has taught history and social studies, served as business manager, chaplain, bookstore manager and director of development. However, he also has served as spiritual director to thousands of students and their families over his long tenure there. Fr. Mirabelli grew up in Chicago and attended Quigley Preparatory High School for two years before finishing at Fenwick High School. He earned his undergraduate degree in history at St. Ambrose College in Davenport before entering the Viatorian Seminary in Evanston, IL, in 1956. While there he also earned a master’s degree in American History at Loyola University in Chicago. His early teaching assignments took him to Spalding Institute in Peoria and St. Benedict’s School in Chicago before he joined the founding faculty of Saint Viator High School in 1961. Fr. Mirabelli remained there for five years before leaving for Alleman High School in 1966, and the rest is history. Fr. Mirabelli is semi-retired, but he remains on staff at Alleman and continues to be the school’s biggest ambassador. In 2020, the school honored him on his 60th jubilee as a priest. They set up a “kudo board” and within a week more than 200 people posted messages of heartfelt thanks.
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