By Father James Maciejewski

Fr. William Hoffman, former pastor of St. John Vianney parish in Austell, received his missionary cross from Archbishop Humberto Medeiros of Boston at the departure ceremony at the headquarters of the Society of St. James the Apostle in Boston on June 21.

Ordained in Rome in 1961, Fr. Hoffman also served Our Lady of the Assumption parish in Atlanta and St. Joseph’s in Athens. He was principal of the now-defunct Drexel High and Newman Chaplain to the Catholic students at Emory University.

In addition to Fr. Hoffman, Fr. Thomas Ferris of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and Fr. Richard Dollard of the Diocese of Richmond also received their mission crosses.

Founded by the late Cardinal Cushing of Boston in 1959, the Society of St. James the Apostle is composed of diocesan priests from the United States, Canada, Australia and the British Isles who volunteer their services to the Church in Latin America while remaining incarnated in their own home diocese. Presently there are 70 diocesan priests with the Society staffing parishes in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia.

Fr. Hoffman will spend four months at the Peruvian Institute for Pastoral Studies in Lima, Peru, for language and cultural training before receiving his assignment in Latin America. Fr. Hoffman is the first priest form the Archdiocese of Atlanta to join the Society of St. James.