Each year the priests of the archdiocese are required to make a spiritual retreat as well as participate in additional education in a field which affects their priestly life of prayer, advances their academic expertise or aids them in their daily ministry.

While the shape of these programs can vary widely, the location for many them used to be the Pastoral Institute housed in St. William Hall, one of the properties sold to Boston College last year. The priest director of that Institute had responsibilities for programs, property and people.

With recent changes in the central administration of the archdiocese the shape of the office, now called The Office for Pastoral Support and Ongoing Formation, changes and so does the director. Archbishop Seán P. O’Malley announced that he had appointed Father William Kelly currently a member of the faculty of St. John’s Seminary, Brighton as the new director of the office starting June 1, 2005. He succeeds Father James Mahoney who remains as administrator of Corpus Christi Parish and St. Bernard Parish, both in Newton.

Father Kelly is a son of Sacred Heart Parish in Quincy and a graduate of archdiocesan seminaries. He served briefly as parochial vicar of Sacred Heart Parish, East Boston following his ordination by Cardinal Bernard Law in June 1988. He pursued graduate studies in theology in Rome and returned to the archdiocese in 1989 and served as parochial vicar at St. Paul, Hingham. In 1992, he returned to Rome to complete his theological studies specializing in spiritual theology

In August 1995 on his return to Boston he was named to the faculty of St. John’s Seminary and served for nearly 10 years as a spiritual advisor and director of young men preparing for the priesthood, both for the archdiocese and for many dioceses across the nation.

In his new position, Father Kelly will be responsible for assisting priests and deacons in human, personal and spiritual growth and development of their individual lives and so of the lives of the people they serve each day. The archbishop’s concern for this vital aspect of priestly life is demonstrated in his appointment of Father Kelly to this sensitive and important task.