Reflecting on the 50th anniversary of his ordination, Father Joseph Sileo said his priestly vocation consists of two major aspects – serving special needs children, adults and their families, as well as his work as a pastor bringing the Holy Eucharist to the faithful and being an instrument of the Lord’s forgiveness to his flock.
Early on in his priesthood, Father Sileo began working as a school counselor at the Lt. Joseph P. Kennedy Institute in Washington, D.C., now the Kennedy School, which began in 1959, and serves children and young adults with autism, intellectual disabilities and learning differences. In 1973, at the invitation of Cardinal Patrick O’Boyle, then the archbishop of Washington, Father Sileo joined the archdiocesan Catholic Schools Office as director of Inclusion Programs, helping Catholic schools introduce programs to aid in teaching students with unique learning styles. He served in that role for nine years until 1984.
“It was wonderful,” said Father Sileo of his ministry to the special needs community and his service of helping to make Catholic education accessible to all.
Prior to his 1971 priestly ordination, Father Sileo received a master’s degree in special education from Syracuse University, which led him to bring his special education expertise to the Archdiocese of Washington in the special needs ministry and in archdiocesan Catholic education. He went on to earn a second master’s degree in special education from George Washington University in 1975 and later a doctorate in school psychology from Howard University in 1983.
“I was always very interested in ways in which we could assist special needs children and their families,” said the priest, who retired in 2013 after serving for two years as pastor of St. Bartholomew Parish, Bethesda.
To this day, Father Sileo said the community of those living with disabilities is near and dear to his heart and he remains in touch with several former special needs students, many now in their 50s and 60s, to whom he ministered throughout his priesthood.
Before he was appointed as pastor of St. Bartholomew Parish in 2011, Father Sileo was the senior parochial vicar there for one year beginning in 2010. He was the pastor of Holy Face Parish, Great Mills, from 2004 to 2010. His earlier pastoral assignments included: pastor of Nativity Parish, Washington, D.C. from 1989 to 1997; parochial vicar St. Philip the Apostle, Camp Springs, from 1987 to 1989; and his first priestly assignment as parochial vicar at St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish, Indian Head, from 1971 to 1973. While serving in the archdiocesan Catholic Schools Office from 1973 to 1984, he was in residence at Immaculate Conception Parish, Washington, D.C.
“I always enjoyed the pastoral side (of my priesthood),” he said. “Bringing the Lord to them in Eucharist was the greatest and the importance of forgiveness (in the Sacrament of Penance). None of us can live our lives without forgiveness from the Lord and each other.”
Another great gift of his priesthood, he said, was giving Communion to the faithful, “It was the ability to put the Lord in their hand or on their tongue and to hear that ‘Amen,’ Father Sileo said. “...Each of them received consolation from the Lord, and I was able to do that.”
From 1997 to 2004, with a residence at St. Peter Parish, Washington, D.C., Father Sileo served as director of professional development for the archdiocesan Catholic Schools Office and as the Kennedy Institute’s coordinator of outreach. For three years, from 1984 to 1987, he was assigned as chaplain in residence at the Little Sisters of the Poor’s Jeanne Jugan Residence in Washington, D.C., with ministry at the Kennedy Institute. “I enjoyed all my assignments,” he said.
A native of Jersey City, New Jersey, Father Sileo attended Holy Family High School in Union City, New Jersey. He graduated from Seton Hall University with a bachelor’s degree in education in 1966. He entered the seminary in 1967, studying for the priesthood at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. He was ordained to the priesthood on May 8, 1971.
Father Sileo was also a member of the board of directors of the Kennedy Institute and Carroll Manor Nursing Home. He served as an adjunct professor at The Catholic University of America.
