The delegates of the 2010 Paulist General Assembly. In the first row are vice president Father John Foley, CSP (left); president Father Michael B. McGarry, CSP; and first consultor Father Larry Rice, CSP.

Father John F. Duffy, CSP, the immediate past president of the Paulists and Father Michael B. McGarry, CSP, current Paulist president celebrated 35 years of Paulist priesthood with a Mass at the Trinity University chapel May 16, 2010.

Vocations, finances and the allocation of priestly resources were among the agenda items at the 2010 Paulist General Assembly, held May 18-28 at the North American Paulist Center in Washington, D.C. The General Assembly is the highest-ranking body in the Paulist Fathers whose elected delegates meet every four years to determine the priorities and future direction of the community.

One of the first pieces of assembly business was to formally install Father Michael B. McGarry, CSP, as the 18th president of the Paulist Fathers.

“The best decision I ever made is to become a Paulist Father,” Father McGarry told the 30-member assembly. “I made the decision to say ‘yes’ to the call to the priesthood with the Paulist Fathers, and now I say ‘yes’ to the opportunity and call to minister to the Paulists as president.”

Father McGarry, who has served as rector of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem for the past 12 years, said he is “excited to be working with the community again and delighted to be serving” the Paulists.

The job of president, he said, is not only to minister to the community, but to be the voice of the Paulists to the church of North America and the unchurched because the vision of Paulist founder Servant of God Father Isaac T. Hecker is “more relevant today than it ever was.”

“We have an abundance of God’s grace to advance our mission in the world,” he said.

Newly installed Paulsit president Father Michael B. McGarry speaks to the delegates of the 2010 General Assembly as vice president Father Larry Rice, CSP, looks on.

For immediate past president Father John F. Duffy, CSP, the assembly is more than a change in leadership, but “an instrument of discernment of our pastoral priorities in light of the Paulist mission.”

“On a personal note,” he continued, “through the assembly, you can see the commitment of the Paulists who are the delegates, and how dedicated they are to the mission and vision of our founder, Father Isaac Hecker.”

Father John Ardis, CSP, a veteran delegate of three assemblies and pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Los Angeles, said the assembly brings direction to the Paulist community “for the next four years and beyond.”

“It really sets the course,” he said. “It gives the [Paulist leadership] a direction to pursue.”

For Father John Geaney, CSP, pastor of St. Augustine Church in Memphis, Tenn., who is attending his second assembly, the meeting allows the Paulist community to get back to basics.

“What the assembly can do is help refocus our mission and help us become more aware of the needs of the church and the needs of the people, who we are really here to serve,” he said.