Dearborn Heights — There are full lives and then there are full lives. Msgr. James A. Moloney has lived a full life and isn’t thinking about slowing down even as he approaches the 59th anniversary of his ordination and his 85th birthday.

Msgr. Moloney is still pastor of St. Anselm Parish in Dearborn Heights after 37 years and is still director of the archdiocese’s Society for the Propagation of the Faith after more than half a century.

“I guess the problem is I like what I do,” he told a Michigan Catholic reporter recently during an interview at his parish. “I really love my job. I plan to keep going until I can’t walk I guess. I spend a lot of time in the parish school and I get a lot of energy from the kids.

“When I hit 70, I knew if I retired and was in good health, I’d be running all over the archdiocese putting out fires,” Msgr. Moloney said. “At least this way I get to sleep in my own bed.”

He explained that he was asked to move to other parishes a few times, but that it would have meant giving up the Propagation of the Faith. “And I just wouldn’t do that,” he said.

Msgr. Moloney’s interest in the missions began in his youth. “A relative of ours came out of China where they were being persecuted and stayed with us,” he related. “He told me a lot of stories about the China missions.”

That interest continued while attending Sacred Heart Seminary, when he and the future Bishop Thomas Gumbleton organized a mission awareness group at the school.

Five years after his ordination by Cardinal Edward Mooney in 1956 and his first assignment at St. Joan of Arc Parish in St. Clair Shores, Cardinal John Dearden appointed him associate director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith and the Association of the Holy Childhood. In 1963, he was appointed archdiocesan director of these pontifical organizations.

“When Cardinal Dearden appointed me to the Propagation of the Faith, I said ‘No, I like people,’” Msgr. Moloney said. “The cardinal said, ‘You’ll meet more people in the Propagation of the Faith than in any other position.’ He was right. I’ve been to 58 mission countries and I sign 20,000 letters to donors every year.”

Since he’s been at the helm, Detroit’s Propagation of the Faith has sent more than $200 million to Rome to support missionary activities around the world.

“Probably because of the strong ethnic background of Detroit, Detroit has had a tradition of aiding people in other countries,” Msgr. Moloney said, explaining his success. “When I first became director, one priest said, ‘You have the easiest job in the archdiocese because everyone loves the missions.’ We’ve been tops in the country for years.”

Back to the monsignor’s full life: He had a friendship with the late Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, has been on the board of directors of the National Office of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, was its national secretary, was chairman of its Budget and Finance Committee and is still its national vice president. He also has been a member of the executive board of the National Catholic Mission Association and a consultor to the National Office of the Association of the Holy Childhood. He also has mentored many Propagation of the Faith directors from around the country.

Closer to home, he has served as archdiocesan director of many lay missionary programs: Papal Volunteers for Latin America and the Extension Lay Volunteers, was the first archdiocesan director for the Campaign for Human Development, served two terms on the Priests’ Senate and has acted as spiritual director of a number of lay organizations in the archdiocese, including the First Friday Club of Detroit.

Msgr. Moloney also was vicar of the Dearborn Area Vicariate for six years, served on the Archdiocesan Presbyteral Council, was appointed to the College of Consultors by Cardinal Adam Maida and was clergy coordinator of the campaign to renovate the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament and helped raise $15 million for the project.

Because of his service to the local and worldwide Church, Pope St. John Paul II named him an honorary prelate monsignor in 1990. In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI elevated him to the highest class of monsignor — Protonotary Apostolic — one of just a handful of Detroit priests ever given such an honor.

Msgr. Moloney found time in that full life to play right wing on the local priest hockey team for 30 years, stopping only when he had a hip replacement at age 65. Sponsored for a time by local radio personality Dick Purtan, “Purtan’s Penguins” regularly played against their clergy counterparts in Windsor, police teams and Detroit Red Wings alumni teams.

“Ted Lindsay played every game like it was the seventh game of the Stanley Cup,” recalled Msgr. Moloney, who amassed 45 hockey-related stitches on his face over the years.

As someone who has lived long, traveled far and done so much, Msgr. Moloney has definite opinions on his favorite foreign country and the accomplishment that gives him the most satisfaction.

“In New Zealand you can ski one month and the next you can go scuba diving,” he said. “That’s probably paradise.”

His most memorable accomplishment? “I prayed about this just the other day,” Msgr. Moloney said. “I was thinking about all the people we’ve educated in schools we’ve built, all the people who’ve been healed in hospitals we’ve built and how many priests we’ve supported in small villages around the world.”

Even after all these years, Msgr. Moloney still has goals. “When veterans of World War II die, we give them a fitting send off,” he said. “Missionaries tend to just fade away. What I try to do here is give respect to the missionaries because of how strong the Church is now because of them. They were tough, tough guys, living in the trenches and living incredibly hard lives.”

Msgr. Moloney’s missionary friends aren’t the only tough guys. By continuing his full life, he certainly ranks among them.

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Tim Keenan is a freelance writer based in Farmington Hills.