Priest Celebrates 104th Birthday With Friends

Indian native never regretted entering the priesthood: ‘Not even one day’

By Jason Togyer
The Tube City Almanac
September 30, 2025
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

Tony Wills looks on as the Rev. J. Matthew Elanjileth prepares to celebrate his 104th birthday during a luncheon at Di’s Kornerstone Restaurant in Versailles. (Tube City Almanac photo)

When he was born in 1921 in Kerala on the southern tip of India, he was a British subject — the country had not yet regained its independence from the United Kingdom.

When he was ordained by the Right Rev. Bernard Regno in Sri Lanka in 1945, that nation was still known as Ceylon and the Japanese had not yet surrendered in World War II.

When he arrived in McKeesport in 1981, U.S. Steel’s National Works still occupied most of the city’s riverfront.

On Monday, friends of the Rev. J. Matthew Elanjileth gathered at a Versailles restaurant to celebrate the 104th birthday of “Father Matt,” retired pastor of St. Mary’s Romanian Rite Catholic Church in Christy Park.

In a photo from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Rev. J. Matthew Elanjileth and two other priests prepare palms for Palm Sunday services in 1965. (Tube City Almanac collection)

Although no longer in active ministry, “Father Matt” celebrates Mass twice weekly in a chapel at UPMC McKeesport Hospital, in a prayer room named for him in the Shaw Building. Elanjileth, who also served as the hospital chaplain for more than 30 years, lives in assisted living on the hospital campus.

Elanjileth was one of four children born to Christian parents in a country where 80 percent of citizens are Hindu and 14 percent are Muslim. There is some confusion about when he actually was born; some family records place his birth in 1918 rather than 1921, which would make him 107, not 104.

Even as a small boy, Elanjileth said, he knew what it was like to feel like an outsider.

“From the time I was 3 years old, my mother would take me walking three miles to the nearest Orthodox church,” he said. “Then, when I turned 6, we converted to (Roman) Catholicism.”

The Rev. J. Matthew Elanjileth rides an elephant during a visit home to India. (Submitted photo)

At times, Elanjileth said, people in the nearby villages would chase Catholic priests as unbelievers or heretics. 

“The first Roman Catholic church I attended was in my bedroom,” he said. “The local priest had no church, so my father said ‘Come home with us.’” At one point, four or five priests lived with the Elanjileth family after finding no one else who would welcome them.

Elanjileth said he decided early on he wanted to follow in their example.

He was ordained at the Papal Seminary in Sri Lanka and studied at universities in Kerala and Nagpur, India, before emigrating to Canada to complete his studies at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia.

In 1963, Elanjileth came to Pittsburgh to begin a master’s degree in education from Duquesne University, and was assigned to St. Mary of Mercy Church in downtown Pittsburgh.

There, he became friends with local celebrities such as KDKA-TV news anchor Bill Burns, Steelers founder Art Rooney Sr., and several Pittsburgh political figures who took advantage of early morning and late night Sunday Mass schedules offered by the parish for people who worked in the city.

Meeting Pope John Paul II, date unknown. (Submitted photo)

“Art Rooney was a great friend, and he was very good to me,” Elanjileth said.

When former Pittsburgh mayor and Pennsylvania Gov. David Lawrence died in 1966, his funeral was held at St. Mary of Mercy; Elanjileth assisted the bishop during the requiem Mass, which was attended by top political leaders from around the U.S., including U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy Sr.

According to the Pittsburgh Catholic archives at Duquesne University, Elanjileth later served Madonna del Castello Church in Swissvale; St. Lawrence O'Toole, Garfield; St. Joseph Church, Coraopolis; and St. Sylvester Church, Brentwood. But McKeesport became his permanent home. He was named McKeesport Hospital’s chaplain in 1984.

“I never felt sorry that I became a priest,” Elanjileth said. “Not even one day. I’ve tried to help people as much as I can.”

Longtime friend and Senior Magisterial District Judge Tom Brletic, who helped organize Monday’s luncheon at Di’s Kornerstone Diner, said that in his role as hospital chaplain, Elanjileth comforted and counseled generations of McKeesport-area first-responders.

The work came in addition to his pastoral duties at St. Mary’s, where he celebrated Mass weekly and performed what Elanjileth estimated must have been “thousands” of baptisms, weddings and funerals. He retired from the church in 2009.

During his pastoral years, Elanjileth led several pilgrimages of Pittsburgh-area Catholics to India and spoke out locally on social justice issues, often comparing the plight of Black Americans to that of lower-caste minorities in his native country.

“I’ve known him my whole life,” Brletic said. “When I was a stock boy at Giant Eagle, Father Matt would come in and always say hello. When I first got hired onto the police department, he’d see me and always say, ‘You’d better behave.’”

Several people Monday recalled being on the receiving end of Elanjileth’s sense of humor. One remembered when two McKeesport police officers were having lunch at a Chinese restaurant a few tables away from Elanjileth. After Elanjileth paid his bill and was leaving, he paused just briefly enough to pop a hot pepper into the open mouth of one of the officers, and then kept walking.

The Rev. J. Matthew Elanjileth served as escort and chauffeur for Mother Teresa during her 1979 visit to Pittsburgh. The Albanian nun, who became famous for her missionary work in Calcutta, India, received sainthood in the Catholic church in 2003. (Submitted photo)

In 1979, when Catholic nun — and now saint — Mother Teresa made her second visit to Pittsburgh, Elanjileth was chosen to serve as her driver and escort. He borrowed a Mercedes sedan to serve as transportation.

Although he does use a wheelchair, Elanjileth is able to stand unassisted and continues to read news voraciously, mostly on the Internet. He said much of his time in retirement is spent visiting with other patients and talking to them about their concerns.

In 2002, Elanjileth had a heart attack, but soon recovered.

Elanjileth said Monday he had no earthly explanation for his longevity. “Obviously, God wants me here,” he said. “Why I have I lived so long? Only God knows.”

Celebrating Elanjileth’s birthday on Monday were Georgeann Chuchla; Pat Wills and husband, Tony; Chase Alfer; Senior Magisterial District Judge Thomas Brletic and wife, Melanie; and Shannon Alfer. Not shown, Diane Elias and Tim Joyce. (Tube City Almanac photo)

Originally published September 30, 2025.

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