Leadership at the Congregation of the Mission Western Province is pleased to announce that Fr. James Swift, C.M., is a senior priest in service, assigned to the Vincentian Mission House in St. Louis, and will serve as the Province’s Associate Director of Formation, effective July 1. At that time, Fr. Swift will transition out of his current role as Spiritual Director for St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston, TX, at which he has served since July 2022.
Ordained in 1978, Fr. Swift has spent the majority of his time in ministry in education and formation of clergy, much of it at Kenrick Glennon Seminary in St. Louis as a faculty member and spiritual director. He also served as Provincial Superior for the Congregation of the Mission Western Province from 2002 to 2010 and as rector at Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, TX, from 2014 to 2022, prior to coming to St. Mary’s Seminary.
In his new role, he will work with the Western Province’s Director of Formation, Fr. Jeff Harvey, C.M., as a part of its new Vocations and Formation program, based at the Vincentian Mission House in St. Louis, MO.
“Fr. Swift’s work in the area of priestly formation throughout his time in the priesthood has been truly exemplary, and his talents and wisdom will serve the Vincentian’s formation program very well,” said Fr. Patrick McDevitt, C.M., Provincial Superior for the Western Province.
Fr. McDevitt went on to thank the St. Mary’s community for its time with Fr. Swift and for understanding the Province’s needs for him in its apostolic plans for formation.
“Fr. Swift’s many and varied contributions to priestly formation, particularly in the state of Texas these past several years, are a testament to his love for the priesthood and its essential place in the mission of the Church,” said Fr. Eurel Manzano, Rector at St. Mary’s Seminary. “I am confident that this will become even more evident as he takes on this new role in the Province.”