Father Greg Esty grew up on St. Paul’s east side and entered seminary in the ninth grade at Nazareth Hall in Roseville, a school that educated students from 1923 to 1970 and is now part of the University of Northwestern-St. Paul campus in Roseville and Arden Hills. After college at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, he left for graduate studies in Rome and was ordained a priest by Pope Paul VI on June 29, 1975.
In 50 years of ministry, Father Esty has served various parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, including St. Stephen in Anoka, St. Helena in Minneapolis, St. Richard in Richfield, and St. Thomas Aquinas in St. Paul Park. In 2012, he accepted the assignment of merging St. John the Baptist in Hugo and St. Genevieve in Centerville. It was a challenging scenario, but not without precedent for Father Esty — he had previously helped guide the merger of three Catholic schools in Richfield.
Known as a respected and respectful man with an open heart and a willingness to listen, Father Esty relied on his TEAM outlook — an acronym meaning Together Everyone Accomplishes More — in achieving the successful merger. He is now in his thirteenth year as pastor of St. Genevieve.
“I really believe in communication and synodality,” said Father Esty, who said he works to build relationships between people, “talking with each other and not to each other.”
Father Esty said he sees the role of the Catholic Church as nourishing the faith — being not so much a museum for saints as a hospital for sinners. People can choose to nourish either faith or fear in life, he said. If people nourish faith, Father Esty said, fears will diminish; whereas if people nourish fears, faith will diminish. Paraphrasing from the Gospel of John 14:27, he said, “do not let your hearts be fearful.”
With strong currents of individualism and narcissism in the world, Father Esty said, one organization with great sway is the universal Catholic Church. Father Esty said a portrait at St. Genevieve of the late Pope Francis offering a thumbs-up reflects his feeling that today’s Catholics are living during a good time in Church history, with good popes.
“I love being here,” said Father Esty, who said he is grateful for his supportive parish community. “I love being a priest, and, health permitting, I can continue as part of the TEAM.”
“Father Greg has been so wonderful and welcoming,” said Susie Irlbeck, the parish business administrator and a parishioner for 28 years. “He’s a real asset to the parish.”
Festivities to mark the 50th anniversary of Father Esty’s ordination are planned for the weekend of June 28-29. There will be an open house and a picnic served at the Parish Community Center at St. Genevieve after the 4:30 p.m. Mass on June 28 and after the 10:30 a.m. Mass on June 29. A breakfast will be served after the 8:30 a.m. Mass June 29 at the parish’s St. John site.
