 Perry was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee on May 24, 1975.From the mid-1970s to the late 1990s, Bishop Perry was a priest within the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, serving first as associate pastor of St. Nicholas Parish followed by an assignment (1976) within the tribunal department of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, becoming Chief Judicial Officer of the Tribunal from 1983 until 1995.Bishop Perry then was assigned pastor of All Saints Church in Milwaukee in 1995 until his ordination as a bishop June 1998.