Monsignor James Ambrose McCauley was born on November 8, 1930 to John and Ella (Scanlon) McCauley near Caledonia. His father was killed in a hunting accident eleven months later. His mother and five children moved to Hokah shortly thereafter because she wanted her children to have a Catholic education at St. Peter’sSchool. Father McCauley graduated from St. Peter’s High School, St. Mary’s University in Winona and the Seminary at Catholic University in Washington, DC. He earned additional degrees from Tulane University andGonzaga University.
Father McCauley was ordained a priest in 1956 and served St. Theodore’s in Albert Lea, St. Stanislaus inWinona, St. Peter and Paul in Hart, St. John’s and Pax Christi in Rochester, St. Bridgett’s in Simpson, St.Margaret’s in Mantorville, Christ The King in Byron, St. Joseph’s in Owatonna, St. Mary’s of the Lake in Lake City and St. Joseph’s in Theilman.
He taught at Cotter High School and served as Principal at Cotter and Lourdes High Schools. He was asked by Bishop Waters to start a new parish in Rochester that was dedicated in 1973 and named Pax Christi. While the church was being built, Mass was held at Skate Country, Assisi Heights, Madonna Towers and in private homes. He retired from active ministry in 1999 but continued to “fill in†at various parishes on a weekly basis until he suffered a stroke in 2008. Even after his stroke, he continued to celebrate Mass in his chapel at his home on aweekly basis and at the nursing home in Caledonia. |