Archbishop Seán P. O’Malley has announced that he has accepted the request of Father Edwin D. Condon to resign as pastor of St. Denis Parish in Westwood. The resignation is effective July 1, 2005 and on that date Father Condon will become a senior priest of the archdiocese.

Father Condon is a native of St. Gregory parish in Boston’s Dorchester section and a graduate of the parish’s grammar school and Dorchester High School. He studied at Boston College and entered the archdiocesan seminaries and completed his formation at St. John Seminary. The late Cardinal Richard Cushing ordained him to the priesthood on Feb. 8, 1961 at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross.

His first assignment as a newly ordained priest was to St. Joseph Parish, Pepperell where he served until 1965. His next assignment could not have more different. He went from a relatively small and quiet, then rural parish to a large, busy and urban one — St. Mary, Lynn. He served at the Lynn parish with its large grammar and high school and busy daily schedule until 1972. His next assignment was another change this time from parish to hospital ministry serving as chaplain of Somerville Hospital and Holy Rosary Home for the Aged, both in Somerville. During that challenging assignment he lived in residence, first at St. Paul rectory, Cambridge and then at St. Catherine of Genoa rectory, Somerville.

Demonstrating once again an ability and willingness to make shifts in ministry Father Condon entered the Chaplains Corps of the United States Navy where he would serve for 24 years from 1975 to 1999 He retired with the rank of captain.

During his years of service to the Navy, Father Condon had assignments varying as widely as had his previous archdiocesan assignments: Amphibious Base, Little Creek, Va.; Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md.; The United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md. and Naval facilities in Scotia, N.Y.; Norfolk, Va. and Pensacola, Fla. He also served as Chaplain for the Pacific Fleet, one of the highlights of his Navy career.

Before returning to the archdiocese in 2000, Father Condon was on a period of sabbatical and priestly renewal.

His appointment to the Westwood parish by Cardinal Law was effective on Feb. 28, 2000 and by coincidence he succeeded another former Navy chaplain, the late Father Frederick Murray.

During his years at St. Denis, Father Condon has brought a steady guiding hand to a largely suburban parish.

Although he is leaving St. Denis as pastor, he’ll remain active in priestly service. Archbishop O’Malley gave him additional responsibilities as Interim Regional Vicar of the South Region of the archdiocese on Nov. 5, 2004 and these will continue until further notice.