Carroll, Marcellus, 1908-1980, Capuchin priest

Angelo John Carroll was born in Dublin on 1 July 1908. He joined the Irish Capuchins in October 1927 and took Marcellus as his religious name. Soon after his ordination in Letterkenny in 1935, he volunteered to work as a missionary friar in South Africa. Aside from a short spell in Livingstone in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) between 1939 and 1942, Fr. Marcellus spent most of his life in ministry in Cape Town. Upon his arrival in South Africa, he was put in charge of the mission at Matroosfontein, a multiracial residential area just outside Cape Town. After his sojourn in Livingstone, he returned to Matroosfontenin where he served as parish priest until 1963. He then became parish priest at St. Mary of the Angels Parish in Athlone, another suburb of Cape Town. He remained here until 1968. In January 1976 he was transferred to the Parow Parish as Associate Pastor. In May 1976 he made his way to Regina Coeli Parish in Belgravia in the Athlone suburb where he worked as assistant pastor. In his twenty-five years in Matroosfontein, Fr. Marcellus succeeded in building up a thriving parish and he was well-known for giving numerous missions and retreats throughout South Africa. He was plagued by ill-health in his later years, but he continued to minister in the Cape Town mission until his death on 18 November 1980. He was buried in the Capuchin plot in Maitland Cemetery in Cape Town.

Baptismal name: Angelo John Carroll
Religious name: Fr. Marcellus Carroll OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 1 July 1908
Place of birth: 79 Dalymount, Dublin
Name of father: Angelo Carroll (Umbrella Manufacturer)
Name of mother: Teresa Carroll (née Jordan)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1927
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1928
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1931
Date of ordination (as priest): 23 June 1935 (Letterkenny, County Donegal)
Educational attainments: BA (1931)
Missionary activities: Travelled to South Africa in 1935
Date of death: 18 Nov. 1980
Place of death: Cape Town, South Africa
Place of burial: Maitland Cemetery, Cape Town, South Africa.