Retired Priest 

Celebrating a life of sacraments and service

By Sharmane Adams  |  The Catholic Compass  |  July/August 2022

The life of a priest doesn't end at retirement. As the saying goes, once a priest, always a priest. The oldest priest ordained in the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Msgr. Stephen Bosso has been an active priest for nearly four decades, serving as a seminary professor, administrator, formation advisor, rector and spiritual director. 

Born and raised in Pensacola, Msgr. Bosso attended St. Stephen’s Catholic School and Pensacola Catholic High School. His grandparents were born in Pensacola and five of his six brothers still call the city home. Msgr. Bosso’s father, Bernard, was a practicing Catholic and his mother, Thelma, was Lutheran. Thelma studied to become Catholic when Msgr. Bosso was in grammar school but wasn’t confirmed until Msgr. Bosso became a priest. “My mom was very good about raising all seven of us Catholic even though she was Lutheran. She knew what it meant to raise us in the faith,” Msgr. Bosso said. He remembers his mother having a close relationship with the Benedictine Sisters at St. Stephen’s Church. He also noted that Thelma was a Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida (CCN-WFL) volunteer when she attended high school. She worked closely with the Trinitarian Sisters, who founded CCNWFL in Pensacola in 1928.

“After Mom passed away, one of my brothers gave me a letter that he found inside her night-stand. The letter was dated March 1952. It was a letter from one of the Trinitarian sisters. It said that the sisters were praying for her and my father and that she would have a healthy delivery. The letter was dated two months before I was born. So if I had anyone to blame for my vocation, it’s those Trinitarian sisters,” Msgr. Bosso joked.

He said he knew as early as high school and college that he wanted to be a priest. “Back then, before Second Vatican Council, the nuns and priests would talk about becoming a priest or sister. It was in the air. It resonated with me – it stuck – and kept coming back to me over the years.”

After graduating from high school, Msgr. Bosso recalls going to seminary to discern the priesthood. But he only lasted four days. “It was kind of a joke,” he said, chuckling. “I went to St. John Vianney in 1970, and after four days, I thought, ‘This isn’t going to work out.’ My classmates, whom I still keep in contact with, remember me coming and leaving a few days later.” However, the thought of becoming a priest kept “nagging” him. “I figured, unless I give it a shot, I’m not going to be able to resolve this,” Msgr. Bosso said. 

Msgr. Bosso attended Pensacola Junior College for two years and then entered the seminary at the Pontifical College Josephi-num in Worthington, Ohio. He completed his undergraduate degree in philosophy in 1974 and completed seminary studies in 1978, earning a master of divinity degree. 

Upon ordination in 1978, Bishop Rene Gracida assigned Msgr. Bosso to the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Tallahassee. In 1981, he traveled to Rome, Italy, to study sacred Scripture and biblical languages at the Pontifical Biblical Institute. While in Rome, he also studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel. In 1985, Msgr. Bosso earned his licentiate of sacred Scripture and was assigned to St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach to teach biblical Greek, biblical Hebrew, Old Testament, New Testament and homiletics. 

After serving at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary for the past 37 years, Msgr. Bosso said that teaching and helping men discern the priesthood had been a great joy in his life. 
“Part of the joy is helping these men discern what God wants them to do. If it’s the priesthood, God be praised. If it’s not the priesthood, God be praised. It’s a gift to be part of their journey and walk with them in the discernment process,” Msgr. Bosso said.

For nearly four decades in the formation of priests for Florida, Puerto Rico and the Southeast, the most significant honor for Msgr. Bosso was to have had four bishops support him in the important work of forming priests for the future of the Church.

“I tell these men who are discerning to be open to the Spirit of the Lord,” Msgr. Bosso said. “There are three corners: the Holy Trinity, Holy Mother Church and the individual person with their gifts, talents and challenges. Sometimes those challenges can be gifts in disguise. You have to have patience, trust and  confidence in God, a strong faith in Jesus Christ and a belief  in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Msgr. Bosso has fond memories of his own spiritual directors who helped form him in high school and college. He remembers the love they showed by being patient, kind and prayerful. “I use that experience as a foundation in terms of being a good mentor in my vocation. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.” 

By the grace of God, Msgr. Bosso is leaving his own imprint. 

While in private prayer and reflection, Msgr. Bosso often reflects on his favorite scripture verse, Luke 12:48: “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” 

“The thing that scares me is when I get to the pearly gates, the Lord will say, ‘I don’t think he quite did enough.’ It’s a way of keeping me on my toes. ‘Have I given back to you, Lord? What is expected of me?”’

This past spring, St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary held a retirement celebration for Msgr. Bosso. The invitation said, “We are grateful to honor his years of excellent service and leadership to the seminary and celebrate the legacy he leaves behind.” During the event, Monsignor and Sons, a musical group formed several years ago by seminarians and Msgr. Bosso, who plays the banjo, entertained the attendees by playing one of his favorite songs, “The Cape,” by Guy Clark. 

“The cape becomes a metaphor. I think the cape is my desire to be a priest. I remember being like the 8-year-old in the song when I was serving during Mass at St. Stephen’s. I remember thinking I wanted to be a priest. The cape kept coming back. The refrain says, ‘Spread your arms and hold your breath and always trust your cape.’ Still, to this day, I want to keep that cape and be a priest,” Msgr. Bosso said.

Msgr. Bosso has returned to Pensacola, and, although retired, he plans to assist in various capacities in the diocese. 

“Msgr. Bosso has served our diocese and the wider Church exceptionally well in his many years at the seminary. Generations of priests credit him with playing a key role in their discernment and later in their service as a priest. With his return to Pensacola as a retired priest, we will continue to be blessed with his great homilies and pastoral presence,” Bishop Wack said.

In addition to serving at the Co-Cathedral, Msgr. Bosso’s assignments within the diocese have been at St. Stephen the Protomartyr Mission, the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Our Lady of Victory and St. Rose of Lima.