Fr. Roger Landry of Fall River headed to U.N.

From The Fall River Herald: 

The Rev. Roger Landry, a Fall River Catholic priest and pastor of St. Bernadette Church in the Flint, will soon be leaving parish life for a high-profile assignment at the United Nations.

On March 3, Landry, 44, will begin working for the Holy See’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations. The Permanent Mission is comparable to the Vatican’s embassy at the U.N.

Landry, who speaks six languages, will be helping the Vatican delegation’s work on the U.N.’s second and third committees, focusing on a variety of issues that include human rights, development, international finance and trade, poverty eradication, globalization, the environment, women’s issues and other matters.

“My fundamental task will be a different kind of pastoral work, articulating and defending the Church’s belief about the dignity of the human person on the floor of the U.N.,” said Landry, who learned of his new assignment in early December when Fall River Bishop Edgar da Cunha informed him that Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the papal nuncio, or ambassador, to the United Nations, had requested that Landry be temporarily relieved from service in the diocese to assist the Catholic Church’s work at the United Nations.

Landry said he expects his U.N. assignment to last four years, and added that he will be living in a parish rectory within walking distance of U.N. headquarters in New York City.

“I wanted to at least stay close to parish work and help out when I can because I anticipate I will at some point return to parish life,” said Landry, who has a national profile in the Catholic community. Landry, the former executive editor of the Anchor, the newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River, is a frequent contributor to the National Catholic Register and is the national chaplain for Catholic Voices USA, an organization that articulates and defends the Catholic Church’s positions in public affairs.

Read the rest. 

Welcome to New York, Father!

Meantime, check out Fr. Landry’s website: Catholic Preaching. 

Photo: The Fall River Anchor