“Rooted in hopefulness, we trust that the Holy Spirit is actively breathing life into all things.”
The Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle, today known as the Paulist Fathers, was founded in the 1850s as a congregation dedicated to evangelization in America. The new priestly congregation engaged in parish missions across the country and shared the Gospel with non-Catholics through lectures.
The Paulists have said in recent months that they are in the process of discerning which ministries they can continue to support in light of a continually shrinking and aging population of priests.
An undated message on the Paulists’ website states that the current trajectory of priestly numbers in their congregation is “not sustainable.” Just 50 Paulist priests are in active ministry today, the letter says, down from 98 in 2004. Of those 50 priests, almost two-thirds are in their 60s, 70s, and 80s. By 2034, the current trajectory suggests there will be only 31 active Paulists.
The congregation’s March 13 statement announced that similar to UC Berkeley, the Paulist presence at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, will conclude “in the coming months.”
In addition, three distinct ministries of the Paulists — Paulist Evangelization Ministries; Landings International, a reconciliation ministry with Catholics returning to the Church after a time away; and the Paulist Office for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations — “will cease operations as distinct apostolic endeavors of the Paulist Fathers” at the end of this year.