Following appointments by Cardinal Seán P. O'Malley, five priests of the archdiocese have assumed new positions in the archdiocesan curia.

Sometimes abbreviated as "chancery," the curia includes certain canonical offices, for example: judicial vicar, vicar general, moderator of the curia, chancellor, and archivist. The first three must always be priests; the other two may be religious or laity. A diocesan bishop can add offices as he sees the need in helping him carry out his governance of the diocese. Often, while not required for the specific office, it is appropriate and even recommended that a priest be named to an office.

In the past few weeks, as previously reported here in The Pilot, several archdiocesan priests have been named to posts in the archdiocesan curia. Father Eric F. Cadin was named full-time assistant director in the Office for Vocations; Msgr. William P. Fay, Director of the Office of Campus Ministry and of Ongoing Formation for Permanent Deacons; Father William P. Joy, interim Assistant Vicar for Administration and Special Assistant to the Vicar General; Father Bryan K. Parrish, interim Episcopal Vicar and Secretary for Parish Life and Leadership; and Father Paul R. Soper to the newly created cabinet position of Director of Pastoral Planning.

Father Eric F. Cadin

Father Cadin grew up in Weymouth and attended St. Francis Xavier School before going to Roxbury Latin School. An alumnus of Harvard, he attended St. John Seminary prior to his ordination at Holy Cross Cathedral by Cardinal O'Malley on June 23, 2012. In addition to his seminary degree, he also completed a licentiate in theology (STL) at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry (Pontifical Faculty). An accomplished student he is also a fine athlete having played rugby at Harvard and surfed in Hawaii.

Following ordination he was parochial vicar at St. Michael parish in North Andover. He readily jumped into parish life and was especially effective with the town's young people, a familiar face at their school activities.

During his seminary years he was a ready, willing and capable speaker at parishes, schools and youth groups, especially keen on promoting vocations to the priesthood.

His enthusiasm for the priesthood is palpable and he seems a natural for his new position as assistant vocation director in the archdiocese. Since February, he has been part time in the parish and part time at the vocation office. His full-time position at the vocation office began on June 2, 2015

Msgr. William P. Fay

A priest with a wide variety of pastoral experience, Msgr. William Fay was born in Boston and raised in West Roxbury and Wellesley. Holy Name was the home parish for his first eight years years and St. James the Great for his later years. He is an alumnus of Marian High School Framingham, St. John Seminary for his college years, and the Pontifical North American College with studies at the Gregorian University, Rome for his theology formation.

Humberto Cardinal Medeiros ordained him to the priesthood at St. James the Great Church, Wellesley on July 13, 1974. His first assignment was as an associate at St. Rita parish in Haverhill. Following three very happy years at Haverhill, he returned to the classroom again as a student, and in 1981 after completing graduate studies in philosophy at the Catholic University of American in the nation's capital. He returned once more to the classroom armed with a new Ph.D., as professor of philosophy at St. John Seminary College, Brighton. During his 14 year tenure, he also served as chair of the philosophy department and dean of the college.

In 1995 he returned to Washington, not to a classroom, but to the then National Conference of Catholic Bishops (now United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) as associate General Secretary. His next 11 years at the Conference would be anything but quiet and uneventful. The conference was undergoing a major restructuring and it was a bust time internally. The Clergy Sexual Abuse crisis was ravaging the Church in the United States at this time and was a major concern of the conference. He succeeded to the helm of the administration of the USCCB as its General Secretary. In addition to the day to day administration of the large conference staff, he also was responsible for managing the twice yearly meetings of the nation's bishops; a particularly challenging one was the meeting in Dallas in June 2002 which resulted in the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The subsequent implementation of the Charter and its policies was a major concern over his remaining years (until 2006) as General Secretary.

He returned to the archdiocese in 2006, first polishing his ability in Spanish in a full immersion program in the Dominican Republic. On July 1, 2006 he was appointed pastor of St. Columbkille Parish in Brighton. Not only was his Spanish of particular use there, but his administrative talents came into play as he helped establish a partnership between the parish's school and Boston College. That has been a win-win as they say, the school is flourishing now and BC has ramped up its local community presence and service, something that has been a goal of the university for many years.

In June of 2013, he was named pastor of St. Monica and of St. Lucy Parish in Methuen, a collaborative in Phase I of Disciples in Mission. Msgr. Fay had been one of the movers and architects of the plan.

His new appointment, actually a dual appointment, brings his experience in priestly formation to the service of the permanent deacons of the archdiocese as Director of the Ongoing Formation of Permanent Deacons; while his pastoral administrative skills will guide the archdiocese's campus ministry office. In this latter office, he succeeds Father Richard Clancy who was named a pastor as reported in The Pilot last week. Both of Msgr. Fay's new appointments were effective June 15, 2015.

Father William P. Joy

Another priest more widely known for his years of priestly ministry in the city of Boston, but who also has considerable administrative experience, Father William P. Joy became Interim Assistant Vicar for Administration and Special Assistant to the Vicar General on June 2, 2015.

An alumnus of Boston College High School and St. John Seminary, Father Joy was ordained to the priesthood at the Cathedral on May 20, 1972 by Archbishop Humberto Medeiros. His first assignment was as an associate at St. Mary Parish, Charlestown. During his years there, he was also part-time chaplain at Bunker Hill, the local community college. He was granted a period (1977-1979) of self-funded study at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.

When he returned to Boston, he was named chaplain at Harvard-Radcliffe, after a few months there he returned to parish life as administrator of St. Frances de Sales Parish, Roxbury (1979-1985).

In 1986 he went to Baltimore to serve on the staff of Catholic Relief Services for seven years. He returned home in 1993 as Secretary for Community Relations, replacing Msgr. William Murphy who had been named vicar general of the archdiocese.

He returned to parish life in 1995 as pastor of St. Angela Merici Parish in Boston's Mattapan section. The parish was undergoing a demographic shift with a substantial number of Haitian immigrants moving into the area. Among his accomplishments at Mattapan were integrating the parish school into the Pope St. John Paul II Academy; providing expanded services especially sacramentally to the Haitian Community, and welcoming over the years a series of visiting native Haitian priests to the parish. During his 20 years in Hub, he was also administrator of St. Joseph Parish in Hyde Park up to its closing in 2004; and then administrator and pastor of St. Matthew Parish in Dorchester.

His new appointment as the "right hand man" to archdiocesan vicar general, Bishop Peter Uglietto was effective on June 1, 2015.

Father Bryan K. Parrish

A son of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Canton and alumnus of Xaverian Brothers High School in Dedham and the archdiocesan seminaries, Father Parish was ordained to the priesthood on June 25, 1988 at Holy Cross Cathedral by Bernard Cardinal Law.

His first assignment was as parochial vicar at St. Mary Parish in Quincy. Six years later he was named parochial vicar at St. Paul Parish in Wellesley. Near the turn of the millennium, he was appointed pastor of St. Mary Parish in Plymouth and seven years later as pastor of Holy Family Parish, Duxbury. During his time as pastor, he was also vicar forane of the Plymouth vicariate (2002-2005) and Vicariate IV (2005-2010) in the South Region.

In 2010 he was named Assistant Vicar for Administration and Special Assistant to the Vicar General, serving first with Father Richard Erikson, then with Bishop Robert Deeley and more recently with Bishop Peter Uglietto. His position required the day to day management of the often complex and varied tasks flowing to and from the vicar general's office. He was briefly Interim vicar general of the archdiocese between the move of Bishop Deeley to Portland and the arrival of Bishop Uglietto from the North Region.

His new interim appointment to the joint positions of Episcopal Vicar for Clergy and Secretary for Parish Life and Leadership became effective on June 1, 2015. He succeeds Father Kevin Sepe who was named as pastor of the two parish collaborative of St. John the Evangelist Parish and St. Paul Parish both in Wellesley.

Father Paul R. Soper

A Weymouth native and graduate of Weymouth North High School and Harvard University, Father Soper was ordained to the priesthood on June 16, 1990 at Holy Cross Cathedral by Bernard Cardinal Law. He had completed seminary formation at St. John, Brighton.

Following ordination he was appointed parochial vicar at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Wellesley. Five years later he was appointed parochial vicar at St. Rita Parish in Lowell and also as campus minister at U Mass-Lowell.

In 2001 he was transferred to Revere, as parochial vicar at St. Anthony of Padua Parish. He served briefly as the administrator of St. Alphonsus Parish in Beverly, before being named the founding pastor of the newly created Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Dorchester. The new parish resulted from the coming together of St. Margaret and St. William parishes.

He returned to Weymouth as pastor of St. Albert the Great parish in 2009 and three years later was named Director of Pastoral Planning for the archdiocese, briefly on an interim basis and then full time in December 2012.

During the past few years he has served as administrator of parishes in Quincy (St. Joseph 2014) and Dorchester (St. Ann and St. Brendan (2015).

He is also a member of the Presbyteral Council of the archdiocese, as well as of the Clergy Personnel Board.

His new position as Director of Pastoral Planning incorporates the Office for New Evangelization and an effort to coordinate the dual goals of the Disciples in Mission -- more effective use of clergy personnel and parish resources; and the correlative of aggressively promoting the New Evangelization. Father Soper's combined responsibilities began in early June.