Father John turns 100 and is celebrated from Philly to Virginia
“He really is the people’s priest,” Kathleen Hood, a former parishioner, said of the Rev. John van de Paer. Said another: “He was Black Lives Matter before Black Lives Matter.”
Longtime parishioners gathered outside St. Charles Borromeo Church in South Philly to wish the Rev. John Van de Paer a happy 100th birthday over FaceTime. "Father John" was a priest at the church for more than 40 years.Read moreMONICA HERNDON / Staff Photographer
