SAN DIEGO
His name is synonymous with programs that help homeless San Diegans, but Father Joe Carroll reveals something surprising in a new book about his life. “I told him I didn’t want the job,” he wrote about the day in 1982 when Bishop Leo Maher told him he was being assigned to head the St. Vincent de Paul Center.
At the time, Carroll was head of St. Rita’s Parish, and he had no interest in being anything but a parish priest. He asked the bishop why he wanted him to lead the center that was focused on helping homeless people.