Father John U. Paris, a priest since his ordination at the church of Sant' Alessio in Rome on July 8, 1950, died at Regina Cleri Residence, to where he had only very recently moved. He was the longest ordained priest of the archdiocese.

Father Paris was born in Rome, Italy, on Feb. 26, 1927, one of seven children of the late Alessandro and Settima Paris. Two of his siblings, a sister named Anna and a brother named Aristedamo, survive him in Anguillara-Sabazia, Italy. Thus, he was also the oldest priest of the archdiocese.

Archbishop Luigi Traglia, then the vice regent of the Diocese of Rome, ordained him to the priesthood in the Eternal City. He was a member of the Clerics Regular of Somasca, a community founded to work with poor and troubled youth by St. Jerome Emiliani. The "Somascans," as they are more familiarly known, have a ministry in the neighboring Manchester Diocese.

He came to the United States as a Somascan in the 60s and began serving in archdiocesan parishes: St. Mary of the Annunciation, Cambridge (1965-1970); and St. Angela Merici, Mattapan (1970-1974).

In 1974, he embarked on a half-century of service as a faculty member of St. Sebastian School, first at its Newton campus and then at its present campus in Needham. From 1974 to 1983, he lived in residence at Immaculate Conception rectory, Malden, where he would assist at the then-Italian mission of the parish, St. Peter.

On March 19, 1979, he was incardinated into the archdiocese, ending his almost one-third of a century of service with the Samoscans. His ministry to the young continued though with his appointment at St. Sebastian.

When St. Peter was made an Italian national parish in 1983, Father Paris moved there and lived in residence, assisting the pastors of the parish, and above all, the people. His residence continued for 17 years until he was named administrator of the parish in 2000, remaining so until the parish closure.

His own proud Italian ancestry made him an immediate hit among the Italo-American community in Malden, and he was especially known for his promotion of the annual St. Rocco festival, which continued even after the suppression of the parish.

With he suppression of the parish, he continued not only on the St. Sebastian faculty, but also to live in the Malden area, serving the Italo-American community and also the small community of Xaverian Brothers of the faculty of Malden Catholic High School, as well as some of the extended community who worshipped at the school chapel.

Father Paris was not widely known among most of the priests of the archdiocese, but he was very much part of the fabric of the Malden and St. Sebastian communities. He was serving both actively until his retirement on July 1, 2023.

More recently, he had been residing in the Lighthouse Nursing Facility, Revere, before moving to Regina Cleri several weeks ago.

Father Paris will return to St. Sebastian School for the last time on Jan. 22 for the funeral Mass. Archbishop Richard G. Henning was the principal celebrant and one of Father Paris's long-time fellow priests serving at St. Sebastian; the school's long-serving chaplain, Father John Arens, was the homilist.

He will return to Malden following the funeral Mass and will be buried in Holy Cross Cemetery there, awaiting the Resurrection in that neighborhood, with which he was so familiar and which he so deeply loved and was in turn loved.

With his death, the mantle of the oldest priest of the archdiocese falls on Msgr. Joseph G. Lind, who will turn 98 in October; and the longest ordained is Father George F. Emerson, who will celebrate his 69th ordination anniversary in February.