Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Irish priest elected Superior General of the Spiritans

The worldwide congregation of the Holy Spirit has elected an Irishman as their new Superior General.
On Wednesday, the congregation, which was founded over 300 years ago in France and now numbers 2,800 priests, brothers and lay associates, chose 60-year-old Fr John Fogarty, CSSp, to lead it for the next eight years.  

The election occurred at the Spiritan general chapter in Tanzania.

Fr Fogarty, who originally hails from Dublin, was up to now provincial of the US province.
Born in Finglas in April 1952, he was educated at St Vincent’s CBS, Glasnevin.  He later graduated from UCD and professed his final vows in October 1979.  Having earned a licentiate in sacred theology (STL) at Fribourg University in Switzerland, he was ordained to the priesthood on September 27 1981.

Fr Fogarty was elected Provincial of the newly merged US province of the congregation in June 2009 and was re-elected provincial for a second three-year term with effect from June 16 2012.

In the past, he also worked for a time at the Spiritan University in Duquesne in Pittsburgh.  His first experience as a missionary priest was in Ghana, West Africa. 

He subsequently served in administration both in the Irish province and in the international headquarters of the Spiritans in Rome, where he will again be based for the next eight years.

The only other Irishman to previously fill the role of Superior General of the Spiritans was Fr Francis Griffin from Clare who held the position from 1950 to 1962.

The Spiritans have been in Ireland for over a century and a half and are the largest male religious congregation in the country. They are best known through their long involvement in education. The order currently administers a number of parishes in west Dublin as well as one in the Diocese of Elphin.

Some Spiritans are also involved in chaplaincy and social ministry, while Irish Spiritan missionaries continue to serve in many parts of the English-speaking world as well as in countries such as Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya and Pakistan while the Congregation’s newest mission is in South Sudan.