Monsignor Thomas Wells will not be in the crowd Saturday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception when his nephew, Deacon David Wells, is ordained as a Catholic priest. A decade ago, Thomas Wells was stabbed to death in the rectory of Mother Seton Catholic Church in Germantown, a crime for which Robert Paul Lucas is serving a 42-year sentence.
Lucas, 35, formerly of Clarksburg, said he stabbed Wells because the priest made sexual advances toward him.
David Wells, 27, of Bowie, said his uncle was proud of his Catholic faith, as is the rest of the Wells family.
"The first time I thought about the priesthood was around the time my uncle died," he said Thursday in a phone interview. "In his death as much as his life, he influenced me."
More than a thousand people are expected to attend the ordination of eight priests at the shrine in Washington, D.C., on Saturday morning. Archdiocese of Washington spokeswoman Susan Gibbs said the priests will not learn their parish assignments until after the ordination.
David Wells said his first Mass will be June 20.
The chalice Thomas Wells used in mass for 29 years will go with his nephew on Sunday when David Wells takes over as priest of his own parish. The chalice was passed down to David by his family who thought his uncle would want him to have it.
In a Father's Day Mass on Sunday, David Wells said, he will speak of the lessons he learned from his uncle, who was a father figure to many people.
"My uncle was definitely a spiritual father and he led many people to a spiritual maturity through his words and scripture," he said. "My own dad, who has the same passion for the Catholic faith, raised me and prepared me for the day when I would become a priest."
A memorial Mass June 8 at Mother Seton Catholic Church marked the 10-year anniversary of Thomas Wells' death. Among those in attendance was Daniel Wells, 69, Tom's older brother and David's father.
"He was special to us," Daniel Wells said in a phone interview Thursday. "He had an influence on all seven of my children, but only one is going into the priesthood."
Thomas Wells was pastor at Mother Seton from January 1999 until his death. He also served in parishes in Bethesda, Silver Spring, Bowie and Hyattsville after joining the Archdiocese of Washington in 1971.
Heather Sterling, of Germantown, has been the finance director at Mother Seton for 20 years. In the 18 months Wells was priest of the church, Sterling said she got to know him very well.
When news spread through the parish that the priest had been killed, everyone was devastated, she said. Wells was a spiritual man and was pleasant to work with. Seeing his nephew go into the priesthood would have been special for him.
"He would have thought the world of this," Sterling said in a phone interview Monday. "This is a calling, a calling from within."
David Wells said his family has been supportive during his journey to the priesthood. During the years and, especially in the days leading to his ordination, David Wells said, he thought of his uncle constantly. He hopes he can do as good a job.
"We lost a priest 10 years ago in my uncle, but we're gaining another priest in me," he said.
SIC: BG