All are invited to the Diocese’s annual White Mass, which honors healthcare professionals and their commitment to serving the local community.
Organized by VITALity Catholic Healthcare Services of the Diocese of Camden and the South Jersey Catholic Medical Guild, the Mass will be celebrated Oct. 23 in Saint Mary Church, Our Lady of Peace Parish, Williamstown. Bishop Dennis Sullivan will be the main presider.
The White Mass is typically held closest to the feast of Saint Luke the Evangelist, patron saint of physicians and healthcare workers. His feast day is Oct. 18.
This year’s Saint Luke Award for medical excellence will be presented to Dr. Louis Love Keeler Jr., a parishioner of the Catholic Church of Saint Mary, Cherry Hill, who was also named a Knight of Saint Gregory by Bishop James T. McHugh, the fifth bishop of Camden. Dr. Keeler has been practicing medicine in the Philadelphia and South Jersey areas for more than five decades.
Dr. Keeler, 89, a Philadelphia native, was inspired by the priests and religious sisters he encountered while attending Catholic schools in grade school, high school and college to live a life dedicated to healing. A 1958 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, he later served in the U.S. Air Force as a captain in the Medical Corps before a year of general surgery at Philadelphia’s Presbyterian Hospital, and three years of residency at Jefferson Medical College in urologic surgery. He then began a private practice focused on urology, as well as practicing at Our Lady of Lourdes Medical Center in Camden and at West Jersey Hospital in Berlin – both now part of the Virtua Health System – until retiring in 2000.
During his career, he has also served as president of many healthcare associations, including the Our Lady of Lourdes medical staff; the Mid-Atlantic section of the American Urological Association; the West Jersey Medical Society, and the Medical Society of New Jersey.
The White Mass will begin at 2 p.m. in Saint Mary Church, 32 Carroll Ave., Williamstown.
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