To tears from his parishioners, a man of the cloth and for the people of Camden is retiring — at 85
by Valerie Russ, Posted: July 5, 2020

Msgr. Michael J. Doyle (the Irish Chamber’s 2016 Uachtarán Award honoree) came to Sacred Heart Church in Camden in 1974 and saw a city ravaged by poverty and white flight.

Many of the church’s white parishioners had fled to Pennsauken, or Cherry Hill, or other South Jersey suburbs.

As a result, both the church and Sacred Heart School struggled to stay afloat. About 80% of the school’s current students are not Catholic.

But poverty did not scare Father Michael, as his congregation calls him. He was born in Ireland on a farm, the second of five children.

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