New superior general of Vincentian congregation a Baltimore native

Published: 2004-08-11

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- Vincentian Father G. Gregory Gay III, a Baltimore native, was elected as the worldwide superior general of the Congregation of the Mission, known as the Vincentian Fathers and Brothers, and the Daughters of Charity during the religious community's general assembly in Rome in July. Father Gay, a graduate of John Carroll High School in Bel Air, will oversee more than 3,500 Vincentian priests and brothers and more than 23,000 Daughters of Charity in 84 countries. The 51-year-old priest is the 23rd successor of St. Vincent de Paul, who founded the congregation in 1625, and the second Baltimorean to hold the position of superior general. In an interview he gave Aug. 8 while visiting his home parish of St. Stephen, Father Gay said his election was a "big surprise." Since 2000, he has been provincial leader of his order's Central American province in Guatemala. He had previously spent 25 years working as a missionary in Panama, traveling on horseback, and for several years was a teacher and executive director of the justice and peace council at Vincentian-run Niagara University in New York.

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