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Fr. Paul K. Raftery, OP
[Short biography from Thomas Aquinas College, November 11, 2007, reprinted with permission]
Born and raised in the small Northern California town of Dixon, just outside of the state's capital, Sacramento, the young Paul Raftery attended public schools through the twelfth grade. During those years, the Faith was always foremost in his heart and mind. After attending the University of California at Davis for a couple of years, he began to consider a vocation to the priesthood and religious life. He investigated a number of orders, but in talking with and receiving encouragement from his uncle, a Dominican priest, he decided to enter the Order of Preachers.

Fr. Paul earned a Masters of Divinity degree at St. Albert's College, commonly known as the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, in Oakland, California, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1984. Having had his first two assignments at Newman Centers on the campuses of the University of Arizona in Tucson and the University of Oregon in Eugene, Fr. Paul is no stranger to campus ministry. Following on these, he began an extended period of parish work in Portland, Oregon, and in Northern California. In 1998, he earned a licentiate degree in the history of liturgy at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley. Most recently, he served as an associate at St. Dominic's parish in Eagle Rock, California.

Early in his priesthood, Fr. Paul heard about Thomas Aquinas College. "When I was a student at St. Albert's," he explained, "I read about the College in Christopher Derrick's book, Escape from Scepticism; I also read the Blue Book, [the College's founding document]." In 2004, while assigned to a parish somewhat near the campus, Fr. Paul was asked to serve as chaplain for the College's Chapter of Third Order Dominicans. His association with faculty members in that Chapter occurred at just the time the College was seeking a new chaplain.

"Now that I'm here," he says, "I find it a wonderful environment for coming to know God at the level of His natural revelation through the great books curriculum. The program is all so wonderfully ordered to and in harmony with the study of the Faith."

Fr. Paul is now busy offering daily Mass, administering the sacraments, and providing spiritual direction to the students. Having a keen interest in Gregorian chant, he is delighted with the College's Chant Schola that enhances the liturgical life on campus. An avid hiker, he is also enjoying the trails and the natural beauty of the Los Padres National Forest above the campus. "I like to get together with some students," Fr. Paul explains, "and walk down a trail so I can just be in their presence and share in their lives."

Theology for the Laity
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