Michigan Knights Invited to Celebrate Fr. Enzo Addari’s 50th Ordination Anniversary
- Sun, Sep 27, 2026 8:09 AM
Michigan Knights Invited to Celebrate Fr. Enzo Addari’s 50th Ordination Anniversary
Feast of St. Louis Guanella • Tuesday, October 20, 2026 • St. Louis Center, Chelsea
The Servants of Charity and St. Louis Center have extended a special invitation to the Michigan Knights of Columbus: join them on Tuesday, October 20, as they celebrate the Feast of St. Louis Guanella and the 50th anniversary of priestly ordination of Fr. Enzo Addari, SdC.
Mass will be offered at 11:00 a.m. at St. Louis Center, 16195 W. Old US Hwy. 12, Chelsea. Guanellian Cooperators will renew their promises during Mass. A luncheon will follow. Two superiors of the Servants of Charity will be present: Rev. Fr. Soosai Rathinam Antonysamy, Vicar General of the Servants of Charity, and Rev. Fr. Gnanaraj Rayapillai, Provincial Superior of the Divine Providence Province.
A Priest Who Made Chelsea Home
Fr. Enzo was born in Corcumello, in Italy’s Abruzzo region, and was ordained to the priesthood on May 8, 1976, for the Servants of Charity — the congregation founded by St. Louis Guanella to serve people whom the world too often leaves on the margins. He arrived in the United States the following year. Since 1983 he has given his life to the mission of St. Louis Center.
He served as administrator of the Center from 1991 to 1997 and again from 2008 until December 2023, when he retired as CEO and became CEO Emeritus. Under his leadership the Center marked its 50th and 60th anniversaries, expanded services from children to aging adults, and built St. Louis Guanella Village — cottages and homes designed so residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities can live with dignity, family-style, in a faith-based community.
Fr. Enzo has always described the work in simple, Gospel terms. The Center, he has said, is meant “to be a lighthouse in a world that doesn’t consider people with disabilities to have value.” Residents “have an integral dignity because of who they are. They are made in the image and likeness of God.” That is the same language Knights recognize in our own call to charity.
A Long Friendship with Michigan Knights
Fr. Enzo is himself a member of the Knights of Columbus. For decades, councils across Michigan have walked with St. Louis Center through the Intellectual Disabilities Drive, Christmas visits, coats and gifts, golf outings, volunteer hours, and State Council gifts that help close the gap between government reimbursement and the true cost of 24-hour, loving care.
That partnership is not abstract. Knights have helped replace aging heating systems, support benevolent care, and stand with residents and staff at the annual Guardian Angel Fall Harvest Fest and other events. Honoring Fr. Enzo on this golden anniversary is a natural next step in a friendship that has already lasted a generation.
How to Join the Celebration
Date and time: Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 11:00 a.m. Mass; luncheon to follow.
Place: St. Louis Center, 16195 W. Old US Hwy. 12, Chelsea, MI 48118.
RSVP by October 10: stlouiscenter.org/event/feast-of-slg/ • (734) 475-8430 • slcdev@stlouiscenter.org
Brother Knights, wives, and families are welcome. Please RSVP promptly so the Center can plan hospitality. If you cannot attend, a card, a Mass intention, or a note of thanks to Fr. Enzo would still honor fifty years of priesthood spent among “the least of these.”
Vivat Jesus.
