Obituaries

Brooklynite Priest, ‘Incredibly Talented Artist’, Dies at 64

Father James H. Sweeney, a retired priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, died March 5 at Coney Island Hospital. He was 64.

Born in Brooklyn, Father Sweeney attended Holy Innocents School and Cathedral Prep, both in Brooklyn; Cathedral College, Douglaston; and Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington, L.I. He was ordained on April 11, 1981.

Father Sweeney served as pastor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Ozone Park; Our Lady of Presentation-Our Lady of Loreto, Brownsville, 1991; and St. Agatha’s Church, Sunset Park, 2001. He also served as parochial vicar of St. Sylvester, City Line; Holy Name of Jesus; Our Lady of Lourdes, Queens Village; Most Precious Blood, Long Island City; St. Pius V, Jamaica, 1981-82; St. Barbara’s, Bushwick, 1983-87; and Transfiguration Church, Williamsburg, 1987. Father Sweeney served as Chaplain of Jovenes de Valor. He was released from the diocesan assignment in June 2015.

“He was an incredibly talented artist. He could draw, he could paint, he could sketch with pen and ink,” Deacon Matthew Oellinger told The Tablet.

“He was wonderfully intuitive. If someone was having an issue, he seemed to know that something was going on, even in his infirmity, always available to sit and listen and or be there for others,” Deacon Oellinger said.

Father Sweeney’s funeral Mass was held March 10 at Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston with Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio as the main celebrant. The homilist was Msgr. Raymond P. Roden, pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Corona.

Father Sweeney’s burial was held at St. John’s Cemetery, Middle Village.

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