Memoir by fellow priest and close friend tells the remarkable story of Fr. Stu

It is not every day that a major studio film features a Catholic priest in a sympathetic role and portrayed in a positive light. And it is even less often that he is the main character of the movie.

Father Stuart Long was no ordinary priest, however, and his was no ordinary life. Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson, and others were inspired to make a film about his life (which is now available in an edited PG-13 version) called Father Stu: Reborn.

Fr. Stu’s dear and devoted friend, Fr. Bart Tolleson, is the author of That Was Father Stu: A Memoir of My Priestly Brother and Friend (Ignatius Press, 2023). Both men were priests of the Diocese of Helena in western Montana, and were ordained together. The book recounts the two priests’ remarkable friendship, as well as the profound influence Fr. Stu had on all those around him.

Part biography, part autobiography, That Was Father Stu also serves as a great companion to the film, filling in the gaps, and of course recounting the true story (the filmmakers having taken certain liberties with the facts for the sake of cinematic appeal).

Fr. Tolleson recently spoke with Catholic World Report about the new book, his friendship with Fr. Stu, and the continuing impact Fr. Stu has had even after his death.

Catholic World Report: How did the book come about?

Fr. Bart Tolleson: In January 2020, I stumbled across some old emails Stu had sent me while we were in seminary formation. My first thought was these are “really good.” I also knew I was just starting to forget a little. Forget some of those great stories and beautiful memories, and I wanted to get them written down. I prayed about it, and I asked Bill Long if he expected a movie would be made. At the time, he thought there had be no movement and so he didn’t really think a film was going to happen before the (Hollywood) option on his life story expired in the next year.

So, I set out, consulted a bunch of his friends and finished the first draft in June 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic. I let a few people look at it and put it on the shelf so to speak. In March 2021, when they announced the film, some of those friends strongly encouraged me to do another draft because of the interest the film would generate. I was able to connect with Mindy Finden (who didn’t know Stu) and she really helped me to organize Stu’s crazy story in a much better way. When the film was released in 2022, I had a meeting with Ignatius Press and they expressed interest in publishing the book. We spent about a year together really streamlining things. Ignatius set a Fall 2023 release date for That Was Father Stu.

CWR: Fr. Stu was a very dear friend of yours. Was it painful to delve back into these stories of your time with him?

Fr. Tolleson: That’s a good question. It’s kind of like a two-edged sword. First, I really miss Stu. He was a good friend and a great support. When he was gone, there was a big gap in my priestly and personal life. I won’t deny there was sadness.  I missed him as a loyal friend and an older priestly brother. I also really missed his comedic views on life. I missed being to laugh with him.

But I have come to understand that Stu is still my friend and he is working for the Lord on the other side. He’s subtly (and a few times in my dreams not so subtly) been there as I’ve walked with others through a lot of tragedies and hardships. He reminds me that God has a wonderful purpose for my life here and for the mess this world is in. Even if there are failures, uncertainties, and setbacks… God still had a grand plan for all his saints.

CWR: Why is Fr. Stu’s story beneficial for others to hear?

Fr. Tolleson: There are so many reasons. Father Stu liked to make people laugh, so his story is really a grand comedy. Stu failed in so many ways with his life: his fighting career, his attempt to be an actor, his attempt to get married, his attempt to join a religious order, his aim to have a strong body and a healthy life. But what he did not fail at was being a priest of Jesus Christ. That he got right, but it cost him everything that pride held in him.

He was one of the most unlikely people to be a priest and he was one of the best I have ever known. So to anybody I would say, “You don’t think God can make straight with crooked lines? You think the lines of your life are just too crooked because you messed too many things up, or you are too wounded, or you have too much pain? Look at Father Stuart Long and tell me that God cannot work miracles in our souls and get us to where we need to be.” Fundamentally, Stu’s story is one of hope, and boy does the world need a lot more of it right now.

CWR: Do you think the recent film did him justice?

Fr. Tolleson: That’s something that both Mark Wahlberg and Mel Gibson promised me and the Long family. And I think they fully delivered. But doing him justice was not a promise to do a literal docudrama. Rosie did a masterful job of taking a lot of discombobulated facts about Stu and organizing them into a funny and powerful journey on screen. But along the way in the script… events were created, characters were removed, and many of the facts needed to be skipped over.

But it still got all the essentially beats of his life, conversion, and his personality right. There was a huge controversy over the language of the film (which didn’t surprise me given’s Stu’s prosperity to create controversy in this life) and I was kind of on both sides of it. There are now two versions of the film, so I hope many adults will be able to view it if they haven’t already. The film does leave out most of Stu’s priesthood, so I am thankful that the book can carry his amazing story forward in that way.

CWR: Fr. Stu’s physical decline was heightened by how physically active he had been before. In what ways did he model Christ in his illness?

Fr. Tolleson: After his trip to Lourdes, Stu accepted his illness and future deterioration in a supernatural peace, knowing that he would model the suffering Christ through it. He told me once that his wheelchair was the cross and that he needed to model Christ in it. Early on from the wheelchair, when he would celebrate Mass, watching him lower his torso from the chair in order to elevate the Eucharistic Jesus with straight arms (he could no longer raise his arms) it was Christ in action. The lower he went, the higher the Consecrated Lord was elevated using his body as a fulcrum.

That was a powerful encounter with Jesus for me and for many others. His hands also at times seemed to have a nail through them because of the weakened nerves from the disease, and watching him still dispense grace from blessings, absolutions, and anointings with those seemingly pierced hands reminded me of the of the pierced and loving Christ. He also stayed cheerful (for the most part) which for me modeled the fact that Stu knew there was life beyond his suffering, he just needed to live his suffering out the best he could. He pointed toward the resurrection, though he wasn’t living in it at the time.

CWR: Do you think Fr. Stu will be canonized one day? Do you think he should be?

Fr. Tolleson: Sometimes I feel like Stu is screaming at me from heaven, “Hey, just ask—I want to help.” So, I regularly ask for his intercession and will invite others to do so from time to time. I suppose all canonized saints have to start somewhere, right? But as to a formal canonization, I will simply leave that up to Bishops and the Church and completely trust in it. If the Lord wants Father Stu to be canonized formally, I have no doubt he will be. No matter what, I am still going to ask for his intercession as part of the communion of the saints.

CWR: What do you hope readers will take away from the book?

Fr. Tolleson: Heavenly hope for whatever they are going through. Also, hopefully a few laughs and a few tears.

CWR: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Fr. Tolleson: The amazing thing about Father Stu’s story after his departure from this life, is how often it has led me to other amazing stories of God’s work in the midst of trials, tragedies, and sufferings. There are so many of them that have become transformative. And Stu seems to be in the middle of them all.

Fundamentally it is important to understand that God’s plan is not always our plan. His plans are always better. That is why I thought it was needed in the book to tell Chris Emmons’ story and how it intersected with Father Stu’s. What the Lord allowed Chris to see was just mind blowing to me. And Chris was able to deliver a good spiritual kick to me, courtesy of Father Stu. It really woke me up to how close heaven and earth are. And to know that Jesus Christ is always near to us along with his Blessed Mother along with all the angels and saints. It filled my eyes with a lot of tears and my heart full of a lot of hope.

And there are many more stories and more are still being written with Stu’s fingerprints all over them. Who knows, maybe there will be another book telling these stories. And if Father Stu wants it, I have a feeling he will be able to make it happen.