Widley read Washington Post commentator E.J. Dionne, Jr. delivered the 2010 Hecker Lecture.

Father Larry A. Rice, CSP, has been appointed as first consultor of the Paulist Fathers, thereby completing the new Paulist leadership team that will be instated during the Paulist General Assembly in May.

The Paulist General Assembly is the highest governing body in the Paulist Fathers, and determines the Paulist agenda and priorities for the four-year term of the leadership team. Father Rice will join president-elect Father Michael B. McGarry, CSP, and vice president-elect Father John J. Foley in the day-to-day administration of the Paulist Fathers.

“It is a significant time of transition for the Paulist Fathers where we face major obstacles but also have important opportunities ahead,” Father Rice said.

Father Rice, 49, will leave his post as director of the St. Thomas More Newman Center at The Ohio State University in Columbus in order to assume his new post. He began serving at the center in 2002, becoming its director two years later.

Born in San Jose, Calif., Father Rice’s call to the priesthood came when he was a sophomore at Penn State University. He entered the Paulist novitiate in 1983, served his diaconal year at St. Peter Church in Toronto, Canada, and was ordained on May 13, 1989.

Father Rice’s first assignment was as associate pastor at Good Shepherd Church in New York City, where he served from 1989-90. He then headed to Washington, D.C., where he would minister at what would be known as Paulist Media Works. At Paulist Media Works, Father Rice put his communications skills to use doing radio and television production, facilitating satellite conferences, and producing educational and promotional videos for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, religious communities and nonprofits. He was also involved in Web design, internet consultation, database development and crisis communications management.

Campus ministry in Columbus beckoned Father Rice in 2002.

“It has been wonderful to be a part of a faith community that has so many young people excited about their faith, who want to learn more and be a part of their church,” he said. “Our wonderful and dedicated parishioners and staff are the backbone of the center.”

Father Rice plans to move from Columbus to the Paulist General Offices in Queens, New York, during the summer.

“I am extremely glad to be put in the service of furthering the Paulist mission,” he said.