The old axiom, “Do as I say, not as I did,” may well become Father Bert Mello’s new mantra as the Catholic priest takes over administrative duties at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in northeast Bakersfield.
Even in the trend sweeping through the Catholic church in this country, where over the past decade, two-thirds of seminary students are middle-aged men entering their second or third career, it would be difficult to find the kind of unorthodox career trajectory Mello has experienced.