‘Just a rural kid from Virginia’
One of Father Cory Catron’s hobbies is heraldry – designing and studying coats of arms. (Photo by Lisa M. Geraci)
WINSTON-SALEM — Father Cory Catron, pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Parish, is celebrating 10 years of priesthood and is fascinated by the doors God has opened for him since his first “yes,” during his ordination in 2016.
Then-Bishop Peter Jugis told him early on: “You can see that God is already blessing you for saying yes to Him.”
A humble man from a small town in Virginia, Father Catron loves the life God has designed for him.
“I am an alumnus of Belmont Abbey (College), I am a priest of the Diocese of Charlotte, I am a bioethicist, I have a modest side gig as a heraldist, and all this is providence of God,” Father Catron says. “I just kept doing the next thing, and it played out this way, and it all gives me a lot of joy.”
Since his ordination, Father Catron has been assigned to parishes small and large, from Our Lady of
Lourdes in Monroe to St. Francis of Assisi in Jefferson to his latest assignment at Our Lady of Mercy and its mission of Our Lady of Fatima.
“Our Lady of Mercy is a wonderful community that I feel I am able to offer a lot to,” he says. “The school has been the best part of it. I have loved every minute. To be a father to the community, the students and even their parents – it has been extremely rewarding.”
Small-town living
He grew up Catholic in Rural Retreat, Virginia, a town of just 1,400 people.
He spent his childhood hiking through the mountains with the Boy Scouts, reading books on theology, and taking pictures at high school sporting events.
“If you were writing an allegory about where I grew up, I would be the parish priest,” he explains. “I never belonged to anyone’s clique but got along with everybody. Apparently, there is an invisible sign on my forehead that says, ‘Ask this guy for advice.’ I have always been the big brother, the friend, the one that everyone goes to for counsel.”
College days
He wasn’t looking for a Catholic college, but while checking his email spam folder, Belmont Abbey College popped up.
“It was small and close to home, and I could apply online for free. And, when I did, I got in,” he says.
He went to visit, and as soon as he turned off the exit ramp, he felt at home, he says. “I took one look at the campus and knew that is where I needed to be.”
While priesthood was a vaguely attractive idea, he had a girlfriend he planned to marry and his sights were set on a political career.
For him, the “call” to priesthood was quiet – the kind of stillness he felt when camping in the dead of winter, he says.
It happened at the second Eucharistic Congress in 2006 when Bishop Jugis came through the doors holding the monstrance and everyone fell to their knees.
“Not a quiet part of town – two skyscrapers right there, four major highways, with constant construction,” he recalls. “But it was still and quiet in a way that got to me, like it penetrated me. It was like something was telling me to follow.”
As he sat in the St. Joseph Adoration Chapel on the campus of Belmont Abbey COllege, he noticed he wasn’t praying for his relationship. He was praying for his girlfriend’s conversion, and he also began to realize politics didn’t mesh with his personality. Instead, he followed that still, quiet voice into the priesthood.
He graduated from Belmont Abbey College and continued on to the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.
During his ordination, he remembers, he felt more like himself than ever and he thanked God.
“I remembered my fifth birthday, and my mom said, ‘You are 5 now.’ I said, ‘I don’t feel 5,’” he says. “That is what ordination day felt like. I didn’t change that day. I arrived at where I have always been.”
The fruits of priesthood
“Every day I feel further confirmation of who I am, and I know this is where I was meant to be,” Father Catron says.
From learning Spanish and traveling around the world to creating coats of arms, Father Catron is excited for the amazing opportunities God continues to provide.
Even the side quests, such as teaching eighth-graders the deeper meaning of “Fahrenheit 451,” are experiences he would have never encountered if it weren’t for the priesthood.
He appreciates the path the Lord has set forth for him and sometimes takes time to reflect on just how far he has come.
“I’ve been to 38 states to this point. But it was from the age of 20 to 35 that I went to 27 of those states. A lot of it had to do with the seminary and priestly duty,” he says. “I never left the country until my first year as a seminarian. I have been to the Holy Land four times. I met Pope Francis and stood next to the tomb of St. Peter. All I could think that day was that, ‘I can’t believe this. I am just a rural kid from Virginia.’”
— Lisa M. Geraci
