When Robert Shaheen was a boy in Danbury, he liked to dress in robes and rosary beads and pretend to be a priest while his brothers, cousins and neighborhood pals played sandlot baseball. As a teen-ager, he regularly stopped at Sacred Heart Catholic Church to attend morning Mass on his way to the then-downtown Danbury High School.

"Bobby always wanted to be a priest . and he has proved it in his successful reign in the Maronite Church," said Richard Jowdy, a first cousin of Shaheen.

There was more success this month when Shaheen, 63, was named one of two Maronite bishops for the United States. The Maron Rite, or branch, of the Roman Catholic Church is named for Saint Maron, who died in the fifth century.

Though it has similar roots to the Greek Orthodox church and other Eastern Catholic faiths that broke from Roman Catholic leadership in the 11th century, the Maronite church restored its ties to the Vatican, and it was Pope John Paul II who named Shaheen to the bishop's post.

Still, Maronites have their own body of religious laws and rituals. There are about 100,000 members in the United States; a larger number, about 450,000, are in Lebanon, where early leaders of the faith settled.

Shaheen, whose family is from Lebanon, has served 34 years as pastor of St. Raymond's Maronite Catholic Church in St. Louis. He will become the first-ever American-born Maronite bishop when he is installed in St. Louis on Feb. 15. He will head a Los Angeles-based eparchy, or diocese, that oversees 30 parishes in 34 Western states. The other eparchy is based in New York.

"It really came as a surprise," Shaheen said of his selection. "I was humbled, and very excited."

Many friends and relatives expect to attend the installation ceremony. Among them are Shaheen's 89-year-old mother, Aileen, and two brothers, William and John, all of whom still live on Stone Street in Danbury.

After his appointment to the bishop's post on Dec. 5, Shaheen said his first phone call was to his mother in Danbury. "She was very excited," Shaheen said in a telephone interview yesterday. "I think she was a little nervous." His next call was to retired Archbishop Francis Zayek, who ordained Shaheen as a priest in 1964. Eight days afterward, Shaheen preached his first sermon at St. Anthony's Maronite Catholic Church in Danbury.

"I've always considered Danbury my real home," Shaheen said. "St. Louis is my adopted home, and I haven't yet figured out what Los Angeles will be."

News of his latest appointment, a step some suggest could lead to Shaheen eventually becoming a cardinal, spread quickly.

"I've heard from people in Danbury, and from just about every place in the United States from Florida to Los Angeles, from Canada to Mexico, from Lebanon and France," Shaheen said. "Almost every Catholic bishop has called to congratulate me. Oh, it's been exciting."

The first day, Shaheen answered some 190 phone calls. The next day, about 180. Soon, he had all but lost his voice. "I told our priests they now have a new bishop that can't speak," he said and laughed.

In St. Louis, Shaheen's parish members have mixed emotions. "It's a combination of a wake and a wedding," he said. "They've come in crying because they don't want me to go, and at the same they are happy for me."

His Danbury relatives and friends, though, are unequivocal in their elation. They suggest he is more than deserving of such an exalted position in the Catholic Church.

"He is very outgoing. He probably could run any major corporation in the United States if he wasn't a priest," Jowdy said. "He is the type of person who sees what has to be done and actually does it."

In St. Louis, Shaheen took over St. Raymond's when it was in a four-family apartment building. The parish now has a cathedral-style church, a rectory and a parish center. It also recently purchased property across the street to build a home for the elderly.

A younger cousin, Danbury Police Detective Lt. Thomas Michael, said, "He was always there for everybody in the family." Michael recalled that Shaheen provided great comfort when Michael was a 13-year-old boy trying to cope with the death of his father.

Beyond his spiritual abilities, Shaheen has a good sense of humor. "He's a fun guy to be around," Michael said. "He's the kind of priest you want to go to if you have a lot of sins."

Leo McIlrath, a childhood friend of Shaheen's and an ordained priest calls Shaheen "a model of human kindness. He is an exceptional model for the priesthood. "

McIlrath, Danbury's director of elderly services, recalled factory jobs he and Shaheen held when they were teens. At times, the workplace language would deteriorate. Shaheen was the first one to suggest that such coarse language was inappropriate.

"He didn't mince words," McIlrath said. "He stood his ground for what he thought was righteous, but not in a self-righteous way. But he kind of set standards.

"I don't want to make a saint out of the guy, but he was a real good guy, a terrific guy."

Of his ministry, Shaheen said he simply tries to share the love of Christ with all he meets each and every day.
"You try in your own personal life to be more Christ-like, and try to somehow communicate that to the people around you.

"We live in a crazy world today, and people need to be reminded that God is still with us, and that he still loves us .Y.Y. and (that we) never be afraid to wake up and face the day. I try to convey to people, regardless what happens, he's still on our side.