We invite readers to send short stories about the ways in which their lives have been personally blessed by the life and work of priests and religious in our diocese.

By Karina Fabian

Father Stan Malnar has a different kind of calling. Most of the people he serves may not know he is a priest; to them, he’s the doctor who delivered their baby.

Although a priest with the Helena Diocese, Father Stan has been serving as a family practice doctor and OB/GYN and director of the Maternity Clinic at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Wash., since 1989. He jokes that he is a “director of one” at the low-income maternity clinic that delivers up to 150 babies a year. He has no home parish, but fulfills his priestly duties by filling in wherever needed – convents, Holy Family Hospital and the parishes of vacationing priests.

How did he come to such an unusual calling? He developed an interest in medicine while a seminarian at St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, Colo., which was reinforced after a summer of clinical pastoral education. He credits then-Bishop Raymond Hunthausen, however, for making his medical career possible.

“He played a special role in my going into medicine. He allowed me to enroll in pre-med at Carroll College. He was also a model of holiness and ministry to me. I could not have made this journey without him,” Father Malnar said.

Ordained a priest in 1972, Father Stan finished pre-med studies at Carroll College in 1977 and attended the University of Washington School of Medicine where he earned his medical degree. He spent his internship and residency training at the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Colorado in Denver, then got a fellowship in obstetrics from Sacred Heart Medical Center in 1985. He returned to Montana, working in Family Medicine in Kalispell for four years before returning to Spokane, where he has been serving ever since.

While most of his patients don’t realize that he’s a Catholic priest, he nonetheless finds ample opportunity to minister. “Most of the mothers I care for are single and young. Compared to the private sector, we have a higher incidence of patients with a history of drug use or domestic violence, or sexual abuse while growing up. I see them as a physician. They may know I am a priest, but I never bring it up specifically,” he said.

“Medicine and priesthood give me a window into peoples’ lives in different ways. I am able to see goodness and care, generosity and self sacrifice and graciousness and it’s a great gift,” he said.

In an article in Sacred Heart Magazine (Summer 1997), Johnny Cox, ethicist for the hospital, called Father Malnar’s ministry as one of touch – the healing tenderness for the whole person, mind and body – and that reflects the mission of the hospital.

Father Malnar agrees, and while he recognizes the shortage of priests leaves even some parishes without a resident priest, he is thankful to be able to continue in his special ministry. He said he’s both honored to serve at Sacred Heart Hospital and grateful to the Diocese of Helena for allowing him the freedom to follow his unique calling.

Father Malnar was this year’s recipient of the Bishop’s Medal at the annual Bishop’s Dinner for Catholic Charities Spokane, held May 2. Fellow diocesan priests Father Jack Darragh and Father Gary Reller, Jack and Luke Lavin and Tom and Sandi Waverek, all of Kalispell, Stewardship Manager Glenda Seipp and Foundation Services Director Beth Yeakel were at the dinner to honor Father Malnar.


Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 24, No. 5, May 16, 2008.