NEW YORK — A priest who recently spent 65 days on the road with the Blessed Sacrament during the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage has been tapped to head the papal missions in the U.S. — and he said he’s ready to help missionaries near and far “bring God to the ends of the earth” through the Eucharist. On Sept. 5, the Pontifical Mission Societies USA announced that Father Roger J. Landry has been named as its new national director, effective in January. A priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, Father Landry is currently the Catholic chaplain at Columbia University, a papal Missionary of Mercy and one of the key organizers of — as well as a participant in — the 65-day National Eucharistic Pilgrimage that preceded the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in July. The societies’ worldwide network, which operates at the service of the pope, consists of four mission societies designated as pontifical by Pope Pius XI in 1922. The Eucharist is inherently missionary, and missionaries reflect Christ’s total gift of Himself in love, Father Landry said. The Church’s work “is always going to be eucharistic work, bringing Jesus first Himself, and allowing people to encounter Him and enter into a relationship with Him,” he said. (OSV News)
