Paulist Fathers - The Paulists Today

The Paulists Today

The Paulist Fathers continue to devote themselves to missionary work in the United States. They believe, as Hecker did, that they are led by the Holy Spirit in this mission. Modern Paulists prize freedom, prefer to be welcoming and inclusive, are optimistic, humorous, and they also enjoy working with laypersons. The Society recently created the Paulist Associate program for lay people who wish to associate themselves with the Paulist charism and spirituality by making a commitment to personify the ideals of the Paulist in their daily lives. The Paulists are a Society of Apostolic Life, meaning they do not take the traditional vows of consecrated life; rather, by means of promises they are supposed to pursue their mission through living in community and developing holiness in their lives.

In addition to serving as Parish Priests at their Foundations, the Paulists continue their mission of evangelization by means of the Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association, National Offices, publishing and film companies as well as Paulist Mission Preachers. Currently, the Society has 20 Priests who are listed as available for missions. The form the missions take is largely dependent on which Paulist is giving it; as the Paulists’ put significant emphasis on the cultivation of individuality throughout formation, each Paulist presents his message in a unique way. The Paulists have also relatively recently created National Offices to head up some of their more important ministries.

The Paulist Office for Reconciliation is a ministry intended by the Paulists as a means of fostering listening, dialogue, healing, and reconciliation with those members of the Catholic community who feel alienated, or, for whatever reason, outside of the community. The office seeks to create processes, resource materials, forums, and leaders for the purpose of healing wounds and reconnecting persons with the Church.

The Paulist National Office of Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations has the distinct mission of serving the Paulists' commitment to working towards unity amongst ‘the body of Christ’ and fostering understanding, respect, and collaboration with members of other world religions. The office was initially created as a means of updating and educating Paulists in these two fields as to how to go about integrating initiatives in a local context, but later adopted the additional role of offering consultative visits at campuses, parishes, retreats, and conferences. The office also maintains a newsletter and provides articles and resources for online ministries.

The Paulist Office for Young Adult Ministries is intended to assist young adults in the exploration of their spirituality as well as in the ‘richness’ of the Catholic tradition by connecting them to faith communities where their individual gifts and faith may be utilized and cultivated. The office seeks to promote youth integration and leadership amongst Christian communities and desires to see issues and concerns of youth addressed by Church leaders and organizations. This Paulist ministry has many forms such as Busted Halo which is an online spiritual magazine for peoples in their 20s and 30s; in addition, the Busted Halo Show, featuring Father Dave Dwyer, CSP, was picked up by the Catholic Channel on Sirius Satellite Radio. The office also hosts young adult retreats and, on occasion, hosts forums and gives presentations. Paulists also have a number of Newman Centers and campus ministries at several major universities throughout the United States; they consider this form of ministry one of their highest priorities.

The Paulist Press continues its ministry through the written word today. It seeks to be a bridge between faith and culture by means of publishing materials that are both intellectually engaging and spiritually fulfilling. It is a well established publisher of hardcover and paperback books as well as audio and visual tapes, DVDs, and educational materials and resources for parish renewal. One of its more popular and successful collections is the Classics of Western Spirituality series. Paulist Press also maintains an online journal, founded by Father Hecker, called The Catholic World, which is a collection of articles on faith and culture.

Paulist Productions was founded by Father Ellwood Kieser, CSP, in California around 1960. It today creates films and television programs on a variety of subjects, but always with the intent of ensuring that spiritual concerns and matters are at the heart of the production. Paulist Productions has received a number of awards and continues to develop and produce an assortment of films and series. Some of its more successful films have been Romero, Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story, and The Twelve Apostles.