Laughter defined Catholic priest on USC’s campus who died on Sunday
On Saturday night, Rev. Marcin Zahuta was laughing and talking about the students he worked with at the University of South Carolina, where he had been the campus priest for a dozen years.
On Sunday, Zahuta died from a stroke, leaving USC’s St. Thomas More Catholic Center without a priest and scores of worshipers and students without a priest and mentor. He was 42.
The Polish-born Zahuta had ministered at the center since 2007, shortly after he came to the United States, learned English and was ordained to the priesthood, according to a Q&A he did with the Carolina Reporter in 2012.
At USC, he held regular Sunday services in the chapel on Greene Street two blocks from the Russell House student union. He held daily Masses and heard confession like any other parish priest, while being known for his outgoing personality around campus.
“Our entire university community mourns the loss of Fr. Marcin – an engaged and beloved member of our campus family,” said USC President Bob Caslen. “Fr. Marcin truly dedicated himself to the parishioners and students at St. Thomas More, and his joyful impact was felt throughout our entire university. Our hearts go out to his family, friends, students and the St. Thomas More community in this difficult time.”
Zahuta was also close to former USC President John Palms, and Zahuta even visited Palms and his wife, Norma, at their Isle of Palms home the day before he died.
“I was very shocked,” Palms said of Zahuta’s passing. “There was no indication anything was wrong ... he was in good spirits.”
The Palmses talked to him about his two sisters and his elderly mother back home in Poland, where Zahuta had been traveling regularly while finishing his dissertation for his doctorate.
“He knows the life of his students, he knows the discipline (a religious life) takes and the things that can interfere with it on campus,” Palms said.
Zahuta was known for his laughter, even when facing hardship, Norma Palms said.
“Even in his sermons, he would always have something jovial to talk about,” Norma Palms said. “And he packed that church up. They all came to hear him talk.”
Steve Brown, the deacon at St. Thomas More, knew Zahuta throughout his time in Columbia, beginning with his first Mass on a Super Bowl Sunday.
“He had an infectious sense of humor,” Brown said. “He would be out on the street greeting people before a Mass, and if you got him laughing you could hear him through cinder-block walls. That’s what he’ll be remembered for most.”
As a teenager, Zahuta played professional soccer in his home country before he made a commitment to join the church, attending seminary in Detroit at the same time he was learning English. He told the Carolina Reporter he used his athletic background to combat the “stereotype that the priest’s got to be old and fat.”
A Facebook post from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston announcing Zahuta’s passing quickly garnered more than 800 comments offering condolences as of late Monday.
Pam Scott called Zahuta “a man’s man who could stir up joy and laughter any time or place! Of course he was really just sharing God’s joy and love for us!”
“It was shocking to learn this at Mass this morning,” wrote Vince Lucie. “At 42 years old he had unlimited potential to do so much more! What a tremendous loss to our Catholic family community here in Columbia! I will always remember our special moments together over the past 12 or 13 years!”
No plans have yet been made for a service to commemorate Zahuta, said Brown, but he’s sure the priest will be remembered well by the students and families he preached to throughout his time at USC.
“He could relate very well to the students,” Brown said. “But he was not going to soft-pedal the faith. He held them accountable for what they said they believed.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated how long Steve Brown has served as deacon. He has been a member of St. Thomas More Church throughout Marcin Zahuta’s time as priest, and has served as deacon for the last four years.
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
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