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Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament elects new leadership

News of the Diocese

August 22, 2022

Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament elects new leadership

Members of the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament met Aug. 4-12 in Cleveland for their 26th Provincial Chapter. The weeklong meeting took place at their national headquarters in Highland Heights, adjacent to St. Paschal Baylon Church and St. Ann Shrine.

More than 20 priests and brothers from across the United States gathered for the meeting to evaluate their ministries, set a direction for the future and elect their leadership group for the next four years. The priests and brothers were joined by several lay associates from Texas, Florida, and the Cleveland area to celebrate the charism of their founder, St. Peter Julian Eymard (1811-1868), whom Pope St. John Paul II called the “eminent apostle of the Eucharist.”

During the election, Father John Thomas Lane SSS, pastor of St. Paschal Baylon Parish, was elected provincial superior. A Greater Cleveland native, Father Lane grew up in the parish he now shepherds. His parents, Jo Ann and John Lane, continue to be active members of St. Paschal Baylon.

Father Lane’s new duties will allow him to continue as pastor while leading the religious Congregation in the U.S. Before returning to Cleveland several years ago, Father Lane ministered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas and Salt Lake City, Utah. He earned a graduate degree in liturgy from the University of Notre Dame. Father Lane has been active in liturgical circles and conventions throughout the country and has presented many workshops on liturgy.

Others elected to leadership positions were Father William Fickel SSS, also a native Clevelander and St. Paschal parishioner who serves as pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Holiday, Florida; Father John Kamas SSS, from New York City who serves as the pastor of St. Jean Baptiste Church in Manhattan, New York; and Father Thomas Smithson, a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico serving as the pastor of Corpus Christ Parish in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas).

The Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament is an international religious order founded by St. Peter Julian Eymard in 1856 in Paris, France. There are religious in Europe, Asia (Vietnam, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and India), Australia, North America (U.S. and Canada), and South America (Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Peru). Lay associate members also are present throughout the world, living the eucharistic life through prayer and social engagement after the inspiration of the founder. The lay associates, along with the priests, brothers and the Sister Servants of the Blessed Sacrament (Pueblo, Colorado and Waterville, Maine), are an integral part of the Eymardian family.

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