Father John U. Paris, former longtime priest at two Malden parishes, Immaculate Conception and St. Peter’s in Edgeworth; at 97

Born in Rome, Rev. Paris was the oldest and longest ordained priest in Archdiocese of Boston

By Steve Freker

If you grew up in Malden’s Edgeworth neighborhood in parts of four decades, you knew his name and what he meant to the community. For just over 30 years, Father John U. Paris served as a priest in two of Malden’s most prominent bastions of Catholic worship, located almost exactly one mile apart in the city’s West End. Father Paris, a native of Rome, Italy, passed away peacefully at the Regina Cleri residence for retired priests on January 15, 2025. He was 97 years old.

His last stop as a parish priest was at the former St. Peter’s Church on Pearl Street, Malden, serving until just before it closed as a Catholic church in 2005. Father Paris continued to serve others, however, when he returned as a faculty member to St. Sebastian School in Needham. He was a familiar face to generations of students at St. Sebastian Country Day School, at both its previous and current campuses, having been on the faculty before his years in Malden.

Father Paris held two major milestones. In addition to being the longest serving faculty member in the history of the St. Sebastian School, he was also the oldest and longest ordained priest in the Archdiocese of Boston.

He was a member of the Clerics Regular of Somasca since his ordination to the priesthood – nearly 75 years ago – on July 8, 1950. Father Paris arrived in the United States in 1965, at the age of 28, and served in several archdiocesan parishes. He became a priest of the Archdiocese with his incardination on March 19, 1979. He served at St. Mary of the Annunciation, Cambridge from 1965-1970, then at St. Angela Merici, Mattapan (1970-1974).

Father Paris came to Malden in 1974 and became a new face at this community’s largest Catholic parish, Immaculate Conception Church, 600 Pleasant St., Malden, just steps from the Malden-Medford city line, which is also one of the largest Catholic parishes in all of the Archdiocese. He served at Immaculate Conception from 1974-1983.

In 1983, in what turned out to be a historic move, Father Paris came to St. Peter’s Parish, 12 Thacher St., in the heart of what was then a heavily Italian-American neighborhood. He would go on to stay and serve at St. Peter’s Church for over two decades, until shortly before its closing, to 2004.

The church was closed permanently as a Roman Catholic Church in 2005 as part of an Archdiocese of Boston consolidation move. St. Peter’s parishioners then split fairly evenly, some becoming members of Immaculate Conception Church, some going to worship at Sacred Heart Church on Main Street in Malden. Others went to other churches in the area.

Father Paris was widely known in the Malden area, and he was a fervent supporter of the St Rocco Feast in Malden for many years, playing a lead role for the celebration, which takes place every August right on Pearl Street. This year, in August 2025, it will be the 95th St. Rocco Feast.

After St. Peter’s closed in 2005, Father Paris celebrated Mass at Malden Catholic High School for the Xaverian Brothers still living on campus and a small group of parishioners, before he returned to the faculty of St. Sebastian School, where he has served since leaving Malden.

Father Paris was born in Rome, Italy, the Eternal City, on February 26, 1927, the son of Alessandro and Settimia Paris, and was one of seven children. He was fondly known as “Padre Nino” in his home town. He leaves his sister Anna and his brother Aristedamo in Anguillara Sabazia, Italy, and many nieces and nephews.

His original community on the outskirts of Rome was founded by St. Jerome Emiliani, and they were dedicated to the care of the poor, the sick and especially of orphans. His ordaining bishop was Archbishop Luigi Traglia, then the vice-regent of the Rome Diocese and later the pope’s vicar general for the governance of the Diocese.

Funeral arrangements were handled by the A. J. Spadafora Funeral Home, Malden. Interment was in Holy Cross Cemetery, Malden.