Rev. Brozovic steps down as guardian at St. Anthony’s Friary
The Rev. Matthew R. Brozovic is announcing that he is stepping down as superior/guardian of St. Anthony’s Friary but will remain in Uniontown and continue to serve as retired senior friar active. “I will still work as a Franciscan priest but will not do as much as in the past and will not have the responsibility of leadership,” said Brozovic.
Brozovic, who will be 80 years old on Nov. 18, has served as superior since 2005. He said a replacement will be named in the near future.
Brozovic was born on Nov. 18, 1930, in Brier Hill, the son of the late Emily L. (Yelinek) and Albert E. Brozovic and baptized in the former St. Hedwig Parish there. He grew up in Rices Landing and attended Sacred Heart Parish. At age 13, he enrolled in St. Bonaventure High School/Minor Seminary in Sturtevant, Wis. Brozovic enrolled in St. Francis College in Burlington, Wis., where he studied theology for two years before entering Lourdes Seminary in Cedar Lake, Ind. He also studied at Christ the King Seminary in West Chicago, Ill., and was ordained on June 14, 1956. He later earned a master’s degree in U.S. history from Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.
Brozovic spent his first 10 years as a priest teaching and received the George Washington Medal from The Freedom Foundation at Valley Forge for a program that was a 1960 model political convention that involved 26 schools. Through the years, he’s preached in 14 archdioceses and 25 dioceses around the country and has been to all the major shrines in Europe, Canada and the Holy Land.
Although sometimes called upon to serve out of the area, Brozovic has been assigned to St. Anthony’s since 1978 where the friars provide service to the greater Catholic community.
In 2005, he became superior/guardian of the friary, which was established on Oakland Avenue in Uniontown in 1956. The members belong to the Franciscan Province of St. John the Baptist with provincial headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Brozovic said, “If you trust in God and do your best, he will take care of everything.”
There are currently four members at St. Anthony’s Friary in Uniontown, including Brozovic, the Rev. John Joseph Gonchar, who came here in 2009; Brother Damien Murkley, who has been here 15 years; and Brother Bill Spong, who came here in July 2009.
Brozovic is taking an assignment at St. Anthony Parish in Helper, Utah, located two hours south of Salt Lake City, where he will substitute for the pastor while he is on vacation this summer. He plans to return to Uniontown in August.