Welcome

Welcome to the Paulist Fathers vocations Web page!

I am Father Dave Farnum, C.S.P., the relatively new director of vocations for the Paulists. I began this ministry in August 2008 after serving as a campus minister for seven years and a parish priest for three years. The first question many people ask is, “What does the C.S.P. stand for?” The answer is “Congregation of St. Paul” even though our official name is The Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle. Now that you know what we are called, you must be at least a little curious about what we do, about where we are located, and about how we got started. In addition, you probably want to know how to become a Paulist priest, the qualifications for acceptance and steps in the formation process. Within the pages of this website, most of your questions will be answered. So browse to your heart’s content, and feel free to send me an email with any thoughts, questions, observations you may have. I look forward to hearing from you. May the Holy Spirit continue to guide your steps.

Read more about Father Dave's road to becoming a Paulist––and then becoming the Paulists' vocations director.

The Paulist Difference

The Paulist difference is to meet the contemporary culture on its own terms. We preach the Gospel in new ways and in new forms, so that the deep spiritual longings of the culture might find fulfillment in Jesus Christ. We use printing presses, movie cameras, and Web servers to communicate the words of Christ—the Word Himself—to a new generation of Americans.

The founder of the Paulists, Isaac Hecker, was a spiritual seeker, a wandering soul. He lived for a time in Transcendentalist utopian communities where he consulted the leading thinkers of his day. Though a seeker, he became a man of conviction: once he found the truth in the Catholic Church, he gave his whole life to it. His only desire was to proclaim the truth to others so that they too could find that deep peace and "unreachable quietness" his restless soul had found in Christ.

Hecker responded creatively to the particular challenges and difficulties of preaching the Gospel in the United States. Taking the message to the people rather than waiting for them to come to him, he used the printing press and proclaimed the Gospel in public. He employed mass communications to put Catholic ideas into the cultural marketplace.

The Paulist difference is to meet the contemporary culture on its own terms, to present the Gospel message in ways that are compelling but not diluted, so that the fullness of the Catholic faith may lead others to find Christ's deep peace and "unreachable quietness."

Paulists do not condemn culture, nor do they try to conform the Gospel to it. Rather, they preach the Gospel in new ways and in new forms, so that the deep spiritual longings of the culture might find fulfillment in Jesus Christ. To this end, Paulists use printing presses, movie cameras, and web servers to communicate the words of Christ—the Word Himself—to a new generation of Americans.