Father James Callan, Spiritus Christi founder and advocate for change, dies

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — News10NBC has confirmed the passing of retired pastor Father James Callan, known affectionately as Father Jim, who died on Saturday.

Fr. Jim was instrumental in founding the progressive Catholic Church, Spiritus Christi. He arrived in Rochester at Corpus Christi Church in the 1970s and became known for his inclusive approach to ministry.

Fr. Jim faced controversy for advocating the ordination of women, marrying gay couples, and inviting non-Catholics to participate in communion. These actions led to his dismissal from Corpus Christi in 1998. Shortly after, he encouraged Mary Ramerman to establish and lead Spiritus Christi, a church that grew from the Corpus Christi community.

Fr. Jim faced excommunication in 1999, one of the Catholic Church’s most severe penalties. Despite this, many parishioners followed him from Corpus Christi to Spiritus Christi.

Fr. Jim was also deeply committed to social justice, creating programs for the poor, sick, and disadvantaged.

“He was a man of faith, a man of action, and a man of humanity,” said the co-founder of Trillium Health, Dr. William Valenti, who knew Father Jim for 30 years.

Fr. Jim worked with the Isaiah House hospice program in the 80s. It was the first hospice program to accept AIDS patients.

He ministered to and ran housing, food, and medicine programs for people with Aids. That groundbreaking work continued and grew with Spiritis Christi.

“I remember him fondly for his contributions and for being one of the early faith leaders to step up to the plate in terms of responding to the AIDS crisis,” said Valenti. “He set an example for faith leaders in terms of responding to the AIDS crisis with humanity and ministering to people who were very much in need because it was a crisis of health and culture and life.”

Valenti says we need more Fr. Jim Callans.

“He left an important legacy and set the bar high for other people to live up to.”

Fr. Callan enjoyed writing as a hobby. He detailed his life and wrote biographies of other trailblazing religious leaders in the community, like Mary Ramerman, the founding pastor of Spiritus Christi.

They are available free online or at the church.