June 26, 2008

Local Paulists Help Celebrate 150th in DC

Special to The West Tennessee Catholic

Hundreds of Catholics gathered in the nation's capital June 19-21 for the Paulist Fathers' 150th anniversary convocation and to learn from the roots of the movement to better evangelize the people of North America in the future

Local Paulist priests, Father Bruce Nieli, C.S.P., Father Tim Sullivan, C.S.P. and Father John Geaney, C.S.P. were in Washington, DC to join in the national celebration of the Paulist Fathers 150th anniversary of their founding. Father Isaac Hecker, whose cause for canonization has begun, began the Paulist community in 1858. It is the first American religious community of men founded in the United States.

"It was a wonderful celebration," Father Geaney noted. "You expect to hear good things about the community at a time like this, and to be challenged about the future. I think David O'Brien, Scott Appleby, Ronald Rolheiser and John Allen from NCR did an amazing job doing exactly that for us, reminding us that we needed to continue our Paulist tradition and do all we could to harmonize the gift of plurality in the United States with our Catholic faith." Father Geaney is the local superior of the Paulists in Memphis.

A letter from Bishop J. Terry Steib, S.V.D. was read to the assembled priests and other delegates at the three day convocation. While he could not be present at the convocation, Bishop Steib pointed out the long history of the Paulist Fathers in the Diocese of Memphis at St. Patrick and more recently at St. Augustine, as well as paying tribute to the missionaries and evangelists who have preached all over the United States while being based in Memphis.

Paulist Father Lawrence Boadt, publisher of the Paulist Press, told his fellow religious order priests and the faithful assembled at The Catholic University of America that his organization was using modern technology in its evangelization efforts and welcomed suggestions on how to more effectively bring the voice of God to more Americans.

Father Hecker founded the missionary community in an effort to convert North Americans to the Catholic faith, using the communication technologies of the day — mainly the public lecture circuit and the printing press, said David O'Brien, an author, historian of American Catholicism and professor at the Jesuit-run College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.

O'Brien, the opening speaker of the three-day convocation, said Father Hecker's contribution to Catholicism came when the movement blended the Catholic meaning with the American experience.

"The vision was to unify faith and culture," he said. "A hundred and 50 years later I hope we have a responsiveness to the spiritualness of younger Americans with a commitment to the faith and new level of civic responsibility — a dual commitment to faith and community."

Last January in New York, the cause for Father Hecker's canonization was officially opened. He is buried in a tomb inside the Church of St. Paul the Apostle on Columbus Avenue in New York, a church he established 150 years ago.

The Paulists currently have 150 priests, along with lay associates and lay collaborators, in foundations throughout North America.

"The Paulist Fathers continue to give the word of God a voice," said Paulist Father John F. Duffy, president of the missionary society. "We accomplish this in so many ways. One-on-one contact, preaching and teaching, video, the printed word, radio and on the Internet. All of these fulfill the most foundational of Paulist goals, to meet people where they are."

The convocation included several lectures about the Paulist Fathers, its history and goals for the future; social activities; a Mass in honor of deceased Paulists; the ordination of a new priest, Paulist Father Steven A. Bell; an awards gala; and a 150th anniversary Mass.

"We normally have an annual retreat, but we decided to come to the convocation in place of that this year," said Kathleen Lossau, a Paulist lay associate from Buda, Texas, near Austin.

- - Catholic News Service contributed to this story.