About Father Victor W. Butler, SVD

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Born on the island of Dominica in 1933, the young Butler was the sixth of Constance (Etiénne) and Everard Butler’s seven children. As a teenager, he moved to the United States and entered the Society of the Divine Word’s St. Augustine Seminary in Bay St. Louis, Miss.

In 1964, he completed his philosophy and theology at Divine Word Seminary at Techny and was ordained to the priesthood. As a newly ordained priest, he was assigned to St. Elizabeth in Chicago, an African-American parish with a long and distinguished history. In 1968, Father Butler joined Father George Clements, a respected activist in Chicago, and five other priests in signing a groundbreaking position paper on the situation of Black Catholics in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

After being assigned to New Jersey in the late 1970s, he served as pastor of Our Lady of Divine Shepherd (now Blessed Sacrament-Our Lady of the Divine Shepherd) in Trenton, but perhaps his most cherished work was in youth ministry.

It was in New Jersey that his friend, Father Martin Padovani, suggested that he consider a part-time position with Holy Cross High School in Delran. Eventually, that part-time job became a full-time position as student counselor and chaplain, a role that he held for more than 13 years.

In addition to the Social Concerns Board, Father Butler served as a member of the first Inter-Parish Assistance Fund Commission in the Diocese of Trenton, as well as a member of the Trenton Diocesan Administrative Board.

Father Butler earned two Masters degrees, one in sociology from Fordham University in New York City, and the other in youth ministry from LaSalle University in Philadelphia.