Originally published at National Catholic Register
After decades of priestly service, the Massachusetts priest is set to begin his next mission in January as director of the Pontifical Mission Societies.
Father Roger Landry is now Monsignor Roger Landry — but he says he’s not ready to abandon the title “Father” anytime soon.
Msgr. Landry, 54, the incoming national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States and a Register contributor, said he got the news this past weekend. He made it public Tuesday morning.
He said the new title, which is an honor bestowed by the Pope, “will take some getting used to,” adding that he prefers the simpler title he has had during his 25 years of priesthood.
“I really love being called ‘Father,’ which is an ever-present challenge, every time it’s used, to respond as a spiritual father in the image of God the Father and of my own hardworking manly dad. I think it’s the greatest title to which any man and priest ought to aspire,” he told the Register.
“But I anticipate those who have always known me as ‘Father’ or strangers who see me dressed in black, will still use it as the most natural vocative. I hope
