Padua Franciscan High School is proud to announce the addition of Fr. William McIntyre, OFM to the staff.
A Franciscan friar and Catholic priest, McIntyre will serve as Padua’s Vice President of Mission and Ministry. He will work with Padua’s Campus Ministry Team to further develop the school’s commitment to the Franciscan mission.
“I like the environment here,” McIntyre said. “College students are good, but they’re adults and you have limited time with them. You can really make an impact with the high school community. You spend a lot more time with students. They’re growing, and they’re open.”
“When visiting in the spring, the environment, the friendliness, the number of faculty and staff, it’s wonderful. I don’t know if that sounds unusual, where 20 percent of the faculty and staff are graduates, but I think that’s a good testimony. Also, the Friar community here in Cleveland, and the friars who are here, Friar JP (Johnpaul Cafiero) and Father Stephen (DeWitt), they enjoy their ministry here, too. Padua seemed like a real family environment, and there was a lot of connectedness.”
McIntyre is a native of Hyde Park, New York in the Mid-Hudson Valley, which is about 90 minutes north of New York City.
While growing up, McIntyre went to a mix of parochial and public schools before graduating from Franklin Roosevelt High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences with a minor in Theology from St. Bonaventure University in Western New York in 1987.
McIntyre earned a Master of Divinity degree from the Washington Theological Union in Washington, D.C. in 1995. McIntyre became a Professed Franciscan Friar (OFM) in June of 1990, and then, was ordained as a Roman Catholic Priest in May of 1995.
Additionally, McIntyre studied Spanish at the Instituto de Idiomas de Maryknoll in Cochabamba, Bolivia to help with a potential future in missionary work. However, in learning Spanish, McIntyre unknowingly prepared himself for work back in the United States.
McIntyre worked at Franciscan parishes in Wilmington, Delaware, Durham, North Carolina, and Macon, Georgia that served multicultural congregations. He will continue that work in Cleveland, too.
“I’ll be able to do Sunday masses at two parishes, La Sagrada Familia and the St. Michael the Archangel Spanish mass in Cleveland,” McIntyre said. “Also, I want to be able to do masses at some of the parishes that send our students here.”
After serving at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church and School in Macon, Georgia for nearly a decade, McIntyre worked at Mount Irenaeus, the Franciscan Mountain Retreat in Friendship, New York. Also, he fulfilled roles in the University Ministries Department and as a world languages and cultures adjunct professor at St. Bonaventure University.
Since leaving St. Bonaventure University to join the Padua staff, McIntyre regularly has attended summer sports and arts camps and mascot training with Bruno and Bella to learn more about the Padua community. He has been a quick study of Padua’s history and culture and looks forward to learning more as the school year continues.
“I’ve enjoyed it. I see my role as animating the Franciscan and Catholic presence here, which is very easy. It’s already here.”
