AMDG
Dear OSJ Family,
I am happy to inform you that with Archbishop Chaput’s approval, the Very Rev. Robert Hussey, SJ, our Jesuit Provincial, has missioned Father Walter Modrys, SJ to serve as the 60th pastor of Old Saint Joseph’s, effective June 1, 2017.
Father Modrys graduated from the Jesuit-run Saint Peter’s Prep School in Jersey City, New Jersey, in 1962 and from there entered the Society of Jesus. After professing vows as a Jesuit, he went on to study philosophy and theology and earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from the City University of New York. He was ordained to the priesthood in June, 1978.
Father is a seasoned and respected leader, having served for 19 years as pastor at Saint Ignatius Loyola Church on Park Avenue in Manhattan. After his pastoral work at St Ignatius, Father Modrys served as the treasurer of the New York Jesuits for over seven years. Additionally, he has served extensively in retreat ministry, as a teacher of mathematics at both the secondary and college level, and as a trustee and board member of numerous schools and foundations. Father Modrys’ most recent assignment was in pastoral ministry at St Clare’s Church, in Staten Island, which is one of the largest parishes in the Archdiocese of New York.
I know that Walter will be a welcome addition to our parish. While a scholastic (seminarian) studying in New York in the mid 90’s, I was fortunate to attend liturgies at St Ignatius when he was the celebrant and homilist. The experience was always spiritually uplifting and those were moments I still cherish to this day.
Please join me in welcoming Father Modrys to OSJ. Please pray for me as well as I begin the transition to serve as the new Provincial Assistant for Vocations for the East Coast Jesuits.
In the Lord,
Fr. Phil Florio, SJ
Pastor
