Allow me to introduce myself; Fr. Patrick Casey, son of Edward and Maureen Casey, born and raised in Waterford, Michigan, St. Benedict Church. I am the fourth of five children: Dan, Mike, Mary Jo, myself, and Joe. We are a family of roofers; perhaps the most noble profession ever.

I am a veteran of the United States Navy, discharged honorably in 1986 as an Electronics Technician 2nd Class. I was the Navy's absolute worst electronics technician. Thus, I knew my vocation lay elsewhere.

Two very important things happened here in the Archdiocese of Detroit in September of 1987: the Pope came to town, and I entered the seminary. I took a more scenic route through the seminary than most, and was ordained a priest in May of 1997. My first assignment was to St. Mary Queen of Creation Church in New Baltimore, and as chaplain to Cardinal Mooney High School in Marine City. I loved my jobs there! After three years of that I became the Pastoral Administrator of both St. Dominic Church and St. Patrick Church, both in Midtown Detroit. I am hoping to continue my position as Chaplain to the Detroit Police Dept., Fourth Precinct. I loved all of my jobs there, too!

That is a very brief sum total of my experiences and what I bring with me to Canton. I am a member of the Fraternal Order of the United Irish, The Gaelic Fire Brigade of Detroit, The Tagus Caravan of the Al Hambra, and the Ryan Division of the Ancient Order of the Hibernians. I think I have become what my father has long accused me of being: a professional Irishman! I'm sure he meant it as a compliment, but his mother was Scottish, so you never know.

The title of my column in the Chancellor, "Loose Change", comes from my assignment out in New Baltimore. The Pastor, Fr. Nick Zukowski, titled his regular column as "My Nickel's Worth" and my predecessor had "My Two Bit's" as his column title, so I decided to go with a money theme as well. I actually wanted to go with "No Cents," but the secretary there didn't think it would go over well, so "Loose Change" it was, and still is.

In the future this column may talk about certain movements within the Church, or something unusual going on, or something boring going on, or something of no particular relevance whatsoever. I see it as a means of letting you come to know me better. My e-mail address is frppkc@hotmail.com.