[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 96 (Thursday, June 24, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1208-E1209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  TRIBUTE TO MONSIGNOR PAUL V. GARRITY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN F. TIERNEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 24, 2010

  Mr. TIERNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 
accomplishments of Monsignor Paul V. Garrity. For the past eighteen 
years, Monsignor Garrity has served as the pastor of St. Mary's Church 
in Lynn, Massachusetts. During those years, his contributions,

[[Page E1209]]

not only to St. Mary's but to the city itself, have been numerous.
  Monsignor Garrity grew up in Somerville, Massachusetts. He is a 
graduate of St. John's College. In 1973, he was ordained a priest in 
the Archdiocese of Boston. Prior to coming to St. Mary's, he served 
parishes in Billerica and Malden. He was also Director of the Catholic 
Center and was Campus Minister at the University of Massachusetts at 
Lowell.
  In 1992, he was appointed pastor of St. Mary's in Lynn. Since then, 
he has transformed the parish into a vibrant, welcoming and diverse 
community. He has breathed new life into the St. Mary's community and 
engaged support from hundreds of volunteers.
  During his tenure both a Haitian Community and a Congolese Community 
were established at St. Mary's parish. A strategic plan for St. Mary's 
High School was completed that led to a $10 million capital campaign 
and the opening of the William F. Connell Center--a new state of the 
art academic building, the refurbishment of the school campus and the 
doubling of enrollment.
  Monsignor Garrity's vision led to the conversion of a large, old 
convent building on the St. Mary's campus into 32 units of much-needed 
low income elderly housing with a service plan that is modeled like an 
assisted living arrangement. He was an advocate for the conversion of 
property located at the closed St. Jean Baptiste parish into low income 
housing to provide affordable home ownership opportunities.
  At the request of Cardinal Sean O'Malley, he is currently serving on 
three Archdiocesan task forces: the Improved Financial Relationship 
Committee (IFRC), the Clergy Fund Review Committee and the Elementary 
School Task Force. Monsignor Garrity is a regular panelist on the RUACH 
Program, an inter-faith dialogue program on local cable TV and is 
active in ecumenical and interfaith activities in the Greater Lynn 
community. His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, named Monsignor a Prelate 
of Honor with the title of Very Reverend Monsignor in 1998, and 
Monsignor Garrity was made a Knight of the Holy Sepulcher in 1999.
  Through his work, Monsignor Garrity has made a difference in the 
lives of so many in Lynn, and he will leave behind him an indelible 
imprint on the community.
  I join my friends in the greater Lynn community and the St. Mary's 
parish family in extending my best wishes to Monsignor Garrity as he 
embarks upon his next assignment hoping that he understands that he 
will always be welcome ``home'' to St. Mary's and Lynn whenever he 
ventures this way.

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