College to Bid Farewell to Rev. Paul Raftery, O.P.

With heavy hearts, Thomas Aquinas College must say goodbye to its head chaplain on the California campus, Rev. Paul Raftery, O.P., who will conclude his chaplaincy at the end of July, bidding farewell to the College after a cumulative 14 years of service.

“Next up for me is an assignment to Holy Rosary Parish in Portland, Oregon, a great parish where I had the privilege of serving in the late 1990s,” reports Fr. Paul. “I’ll be assistant pastor, with various apostolates ranging from the substantial confessional ministry of the parish, offering Dominican Rite Masses at Holy Rosary as well as Extraordinary Form at a local parish, working with our Third Order, and undoubtedly hiking with parishioners and even brewing beer.”

 “Since I see the College as a great work of Divine Providence, everything I can do to support what happens here is contributing to Our Lord’s plan for the Church in our times, and I am immensely grateful for sharing in it as a priest.”

A native of Northern California, Fr. Paul originally attended the University of California, Davis. During his time there, he began considering a religious vocation. Encouraged by his uncle, a Dominican priest, he entered the Order of Preachers, making his first profession in 1977 and thereafter studying at St. Albert’s College (also known as the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology) in Oakland.

Fr. Paul went on to earn his master’s of Divinity and was ordained to the priesthood in 1984. Some of his earliest assignments were at Newman Centers at the University of Arizona and the University of Oregon. He then spent an extended period in parishes up and down the Pacific coast, shepherding souls in Portland, Oregon, and in Northern California. Yet he still found the time to pursue a licentiate degree in the history of liturgy at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, which he completed in 1998.

In 2006 Fr. Paul brought his extensive experience to Thomas Aquinas College, where he served as a chaplain on the California campus from 2006 to 2012. Then, following a two-year assignment in Anchorage, Alaska, he returned to the College in 2014, and has since served as the head chaplain and assistant to the dean for religious affairs.

In those 14 years of service, Fr. Paul has been — as Louis de Wohl once described St. Thomas Aquinas — “a quiet light.” Far from restricting his ministry to the altar and the confessional, he is a regular presence in the dining commons and campus events, and generously offers spiritual direction to all who seek it. He is especially known for leading hikes and camping trips. “I like to get together with some students,” he explains, “and walk down a trail so I can just be in their presence and share in their lives.”

Students past and present are profoundly grateful for this outgoing father in Christ. “Fr. Paul was my spiritual director for three years,” recalls Andreas Waldstein (‘19). “His quiet determination, peaceful fortitude, and wise counsel were a rock of solidity on which I could always depend.”

“Fr. Paul embodies incredible kindness and humility, and is always giving of himself in service to our community. He has served as a spiritual director for many of us, and has been a spiritual father to us all. I know I speak for us all when I say we will miss Fr. Paul very much!”

For his part, Fr. Paul is likewise grateful. “Since I see the College as a great work of Divine Providence, everything I can do to support what happens here is contributing to Our Lord’s plan for the Church in our times, and I am immensely grateful for sharing in it as a priest,” he says. “Being here for the 50th year of TAC and the anniversary celebrations, especially the chance to attend the Gala celebration with a history-making Supreme Court Justice, is one special highlight for the past few years — a wonderful milestone for the College! But the real highlights are being able to provide the sacraments and spiritual direction for the students, as well as all the other activities: Meals in the Commons, consecration with the men in Serra’s dorm, the hikes to Topatopa bluffs, and especially the graduations, the moment of their going out for the renewal of our Church and our country.”

In the words of Dr. John Goyette, dean of the California campus, “Fr. Paul embodies incredible kindness and humility, and is always giving of himself in service to our community. He has served as a spiritual director for many of us, and has been a spiritual father to us all. I know I speak for us all when I say we will miss Fr. Paul very much!”