Sixteenth Pastor, 1984-1996
Father Clemens HammerFather Dohrman W. Byers was born February 1,1946, in Helena, Montana, but he grew up in Cincinnati as a member of the Presbyterian Church. In 1967, while in college, he joined the Catholic Church, and, shortly after graduation, he entered Mt. St. Mary Seminary and was ordained a priest on May 25,1974. After a brief assignment as assistant pastor at Our Lady of Victory in Delhi, he was sent to the Catholic Institute in Paris, France, for graduate studies. Upon his return in 1980, he became director of the archdiocesan Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, a post which he held until 1987. While serving the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in this capacity, he was also assistant pastor at St. Vincent Ferrer in Kenwood (1980-84). For seventeen years, he represented the Archdiocese on the board of the Ohio Council of Churches and was involved with other local and national ecumenical and interfaith organizations.
In 1984, he was appointed pastor of Old St. Mary’s in the Over-the-Rhine area of Cincinnati. After twelve years as pastor there, he was appointed pastor of the parishes of St. Mary, (Arnheim) in Georgetown, and St. Elizabeth, Sardinia, both located in rural Brown County, Ohio. In 2001, he was also appointed pastor of St. Michael parish, Mt. Orab, while continuing at Arnheim and Sardinia.
Since leaving the directorship of the Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, he has continued to serve as consultant to that office, and for several years has taught the course on Ecumenism at Mt. St. Mary Seminary.