Msgr. Thomas J. Mullelly, diocesan vicar for clergy and consecrated life, was awarded the Simon Bruté Medal June 6 during a ceremony at Mount Saint Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, Md. The medal is presented annually by the Catholic university in recognition of the highest honor conferred upon its alumni.

The Bruté medal is named after the Right Rev. Simon Gabriel Bruté, founder of Mount St. Mary’s University and Seminary who in 1812 taught divinity and philosophy and served as spiritual advisor to the university’s Sisters of Charity. It is presented by the university’s national alumni association to those who have distinguished themselves through their careers, commitment to their community or service to their fellow man.

Msgr. Mullelly graduated summa cum laude from Mount Saint Mary’s in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in political science; he later earned a master’s degree in counseling in higher education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Pa.; a master of divinity degree from Immaculate Conception Seminary, Mahwah; and a master of theology from Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton.

He was ordained to the priesthood May 31, 1980, in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, by Bishop John C. Reiss, then served as parochial vicar in St. Gregory the Great Parish, Hamilton Square. In 1982 he was appointed director of the Diocesan Society for the Propagation of the Faith and served on the commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and on the committee for Guidelines for Mixed Marriages. Msgr. Mullelly is a member of the Knights of Columbus, Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and the Bar of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Msgr. Mullelly and fellow award winners received a special blessing at the Golden Mountaineer Mass held in the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception during alumni reunion weekend and were presented with the Bruté medal at a banquet.

“We thank [Monsignor Mullelly and his fellow recipients] for their service to the Mount and the community,” said Thomas H. Powell, president of Mount St. Mary’s University. “We award them with our highest honor, recognizing their generosity and support for the Mount’s mission and what we are accomplishing here on Mary’s Mountain.”

Upon accepting the award, Msgr. Mullelly said, “My years as a student at the Mount laid a solid foundation for graduate and professional studies, for engagement in the areas of ministry, law and higher education, and most importantly in responding to the call to serve the Church as a priest.”