A Life Dedicated to Missionary Work
Father Paul’s understanding of his missionary role is deeply personal and spiritual. He explains, “To be a missionary, for me, it mean
s proclaiming the Word of God, or catechizing because Jesus Christ invites us to come to Him… we are told, Go forth and baptize the people in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to follow what I have taught, to proclaim the good news to the whole world.”
His connection to mission work is also rooted in gratitude and a desire to give back: “I was catechized and supported by missionaries… they built the schools, they built the churches, they built the hospitals and health centers that served my community, my family, and myself.”
He shares that he probably wouldn’t be where he is now had it not been for a priest from Ireland who covered his school fees. This sense of passing on what one has received is a central theme in Father Paul’s vocation. His desire to give back is what convinced him to stay permanently in Rochester: “We not only receive, but we also give back what we received from Europe and America,” he said.
This profound personal experience of missionaries going to Africa fuels his dedication to support the global missionary work through his role in Rochester as the head of the diocesan mission office, part of the broad network weaved by The Pontifical Mission Societies.
Previously an extern priest who had special permission to serve in a different diocese, Father Paul was incardinated into — or, fully adopted into — his diocese in New York back in 2012, just months after receiving his U.S. citizenship. The process for him to formally become a priest for the Diocese of Rochester was years in the making, as he first requested this in 2008.
He arrived in the United States with a bachelor’s degree in sacred theology and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Rome’s Pontifical Urban University, which through scholarships from The Pontifical Mission Societies gives formation to hundreds of priests, seminarians, religious, and lay leaders from mission territories. He came to further his studies as he saw a need for mental health specialists in his parish in Kenya. At St. John Fisher College he earned master’s degrees in human service administration in 2005 and mental health counseling in 2009.
Challenges Faced by Foreign Missionaries
Though we often tell the stories of missionaries from the United States going to one of the 1,100 territories served in various ways by The Pontifical Mission Societies, Father Paul’s story differs in that he comes from one of those territories and is currently a missionary in the United States.
Adapting to life in the U.S. presented several challenges.
“There are three things any missionary faces when spreading the Gospel in a different country: a language barrier, a cultural shock, and drastically different weather!” His first encounter with snow is a vivid memory of the physical and metaphorical change in climate he had to endure.
Discussing the challenges foreign priests face, Father Paul almost jokingly mentions the weather, “I know that when I saw snow for the first time, it was here. Weather in Kenya is quite different than in Rochester!” But the challenges go far beyond experiencing the physical cold: there is the isolation that comes from not knowing many people, the misunderstanding due to language barriers – even when the priest hails from and goes to an English-speaking country, there are then cultural landscapes that they have to navigate.
The role of foreign-born priests in the U.S. is critical yet fraught with challenges. According to the National Study of Catholic Priests by the Catholic University of America, 24% of priests serving in the U.S. are foreign-born, with many facing uncertainties due to U.S. immigration policies. Formed in Rome’s Pontifical Urban University, or in local seminaries, more often than not with grants coming from the generosity of people such as yourself, these priests often fill significant gaps in local dioceses.
A Continuing Call to Serve
Father Paul describes his role as a missionary as proclaiming the Word of God and “being an agent of God’s grace.” His mission is rooted in the Gospel’s call to “come to me, all who are carrying heavy burdens” (Matthew 11:28), emphasizing the transformative power of receiving and spreading God’s word through the sacraments like Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist.
This man’s journey, and that of thousands of foreign missionaries spreading the Gospel to all nations, is more than a geographical shift; it is a spiritual mission that continues to evolve. These men and women carry with them not just the knowledge and faith of their homeland but also a powerful narrative of the Universal Catholic Church, showcasing the fact that we are all interconnected, with individual stories that weave the network of workers that He has sent to the harvest.
