Thursday, April 21, 2016
YOUNGSTOWN
The Rev. Father Nicholas Shori, beloved longtime priest in the Youngstown Diocese, died Wednesday while under hospice care at his home. He was 68.
Father Shori’s funeral Mass is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday in St. Columba Cathedral on Wood Street after calling hours from 2 to 5:45 p.m.
“Father Shori was an exceptionally fine priest who touched the hearts of many people with his compassion and care,” said Monsignor Robert Siffrin, vicar general of the diocese.
“He will be deeply missed by his fellow priests, by his family and the many people he served,” Monsignor Siffrin added.
In a letter sent Wednesday to all Diocese clergy, the Most Reverend George V. Murry, bishop of the Youngstown Diocese, said it is “with sorrow that I announce the death of Rev. Shori.”
Bishop Murry said Father Shori leaves his mother, Rosemary Shori, brothers Donald and Michael, a sister Janet Rinefierd, numerous nieces and nephews, a great-niece and a great-nephew.
Father Shori had served in a number of assignments, both in parish work and hospital ministry, and most recently he worked in the diocesan office focusing on pastoral planning and evangelization, Father Siffrin said.
Born March 11, 1948, in Canton, he attended Canton-area schools before entering the high-school division of St. Gregory Seminary in Cincinnati, where he continued his college studies. He attended Mount St. Mary of the West Seminary in Cincinnati, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1970 and a master’s degree in theology in 1973.
He was ordained June 8, 1974, by Bishop James Malone and spent most of his life in the Youngstown Diocese.
He served as assistant pastor at St. Luke Parish, Boardman, from 1974-76; served on the faculty of Cardinal Mooney High School from 1976-78; and from 1978-85 was director of pastoral-care services at St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital.
Father Shori was appointed to his first pastorate at St. Robert Parish in Cortland in 1985. He was appointed pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Parish in New Middletown in 1993, where he remained until his 2010 appointment as Director of Implementation of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan. In addition, he assumed the role of director of continuing education of priests.
In 2013, he was appointed Director of the Office of Evangelization with the responsibility of continuing the diocesan parish reconfiguration plan. He remained in that position until his resignation for health reasons last month.