Msgr. James J. Howard, 89, rector of Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul.

IF YOU WERE a cop or a firefighter in need of spiritual solace, the man to see was Monsignor James Joseph Howard.

He was chaplain of the League of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and he was there day and night to help when the men and women who deal with tragedy and violence in their daily lives needed answers to their spiritual questions.

Monsignor Howard was a legendary Philadelphia priest, the longest serving rector of the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul, a former faculty member of two Catholic high schools and a man who rendered his priestly duties always with the heart of Jesus.

He died Tuesday at age 89.

His ministry led him in many directions, from helping to organize Pope John Paul II's Papal Mass at the cathedral in 1979, to giving the invocation at a tear-filled memorial for the 11 adults and children who died in the MOVE disaster of May 1985, to delivering the benediction in 1988 at a ceremony honoring police K-9 dogs that died in the line of duty.

He often led prayers for peace in time of war. Nothing was too much trouble or too mundane if it needed his special brand of sacred intensity.

Howard began serving as rector of what was then the Cathedral of Ss. Peter and Paul in 1973. He was instrumental in having the cathedral designated a basilica in 1977. On his retirement in 2000, he became rector emeritus.

James Howard was born in Pottsville to Veronica and James Howard. He attended St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and was ordained in 1952. In 1958, he became a theology teacher at Monsignor Bonner High School in Drexel Hill. He became disciplinarian at Cardinal Dougherty High School in 1960, and then served as principal from 1968 to 1973. He became a monsignor in 1973 and rector of the cathedral.

Services: Funeral Mass 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul, 18th Street and the Ben Franklin Parkway. Friends may call at 8:45 a.m. Burial will be Thursday in Calvary Cemetery, Pottsville.