YPD chaplain answers 2 callings

By LINDA M. LINONIS

Vindicator Staff Writer

YOUNGSTOWN — More than a half-century ago, the Rev. Edward J. Neroda answered the call to the priesthood.

In 2004, he responded to another calling — as a chaplain in the Youngstown Police Chaplaincy Corps.

That’s not all that changed in the priest’s life. He got a computer, a cell phone, an iPod and took up golf.

Father Neroda attributed it all to his “personal epiphany.”

“This is a new phase of life for me. I consider it part of my ministry as a priest,” said the 77-year-old pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, 430 Williamson Ave. “I’m exuberant about it ... I’m so happy to be able to do this.”

Health issues hospitalized him for 2 1⁄2 months in 2000 and became a catalyst for the personal overhaul. That, along with a chance encounter with a Youngstown police officer, altered the course of Father Neroda’s life.

“We got acquainted,” Father Neroda said. “He took me down to the police station. I’ve never felt so welcome. I felt I was with family,” he said. “Some people have told me I should have been a cop.”

“Now I get to do both,” he said with a broad smile.

Marsha Schlais, administrative assistant at St. Stanislaus, said Father Neroda “lights up” when he talks about his work as a police chaplain. She also described the changes he made as “Father’s epiphany.”

Father Neroda sees a similar thread in police and priests. “On the police cars, there are the words ‘pride and commitment,’” he said. Both share pride in their work of helping people and both are committed to serving people and the community, he said.

Father Neroda said he was trained by the police officers he rode with concerning what the different codes for calls meant and how to work the radio.

He came with previous experience. When he served as pastor from 1970-80 at St. Mary Church in Newton Falls, he met an Ohio State Highway Patrol officer. “I wanted to find out what put him in this kind of service,” Father Neroda said. Father Neroda rode with OSHP officers from Post 91 in Hiram. “That experience was pivotal,” he said. He supplemented practical background with training at a chaplaincy school in Greensburg, Pa.

Father Neroda takes his turn as chaplain on call for the week and has the chaplain’s cruiser. He also rides with officers on patrol on the South Side on multiple days of the week.

He wears his cleric’s collar under the police shirt, detailed with YPD and chaplain patches, a YPD pin, small gold cross and gold shield emblazoned with the word chaplain, and carries a whistle. Many of the items were gifts from police officers. He also wears a bullet-proof vest.

He’s been in the passenger seat for some high-speed chases. “I keep my eyes shut until we stop, and I keep pressing down on my ‘pretend’ brake,’” he said.

Father Neroda recalled two calls involving attempted suicides and noted the difficulty of the situations.

“But we saved them,” he said.

He remembered that one man held a knife to his body. “I noticed a book of devotions on a table,” Father Neroda said. “I said to him, ‘Let’s pray,’ and we said the Lord’s Prayer.”

Father Neroda complimented YPD officers for their “ability to keep cool” and for their “dedication and concern for people.”

He said some people believe that the police only arrest people; but that’s shortchanging the job. “They handle many social issues,” he said.

As a priest, Father Neroda said he is there to offer help and support to police and residents — but only when it’s requested.

“I offer spiritual direction if someone asks,” he said. “This isn’t about proselytizing and getting members for your church. It’s about giving effective spiritual support.”

His vocation as a priest wasn’t on his mind when he was attending what is now Youngstown State University three nights a week.

His goal was to be a biology teacher. He still dabbles in that area — by tending plants at his home and initiating plans to create a garden for the centennial of St. Stanislaus, where he has been pastor since 1980.

He is no stranger to various kinds of labor, which started when he was 13. He worked at a coffee shop in the city and Oles Market downtown.

“I worked at Youngstown Sheet & Tube and construction ... My sweat is in curbstones on New Road,” he recalled.

Father Neroda said he realized he might have a priestly calling when he was 9 but addressed it later in life.

“I saw the movie ‘The Keys of the Kingdom,’ with Gregory Peck as a young Scottish priest sent to China to establish a Catholic Church. It so inspired me that I decided to go to the seminary,” Father Neroda said.

He marked the 50th anniversary of his ordination May 25, 2007.