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Poitras Poised for Pastor’s Position

J. Michael Whalen
Times Staff
9/2/10
The Rev. Robert Poitras, parochial vicar at St. Agatha Parish, is leaving town to become pastor of St. Mary Parish in Georgetown.

He has been appointed by Cardinal Séan O’Malley to lead the Merrimack Region parish, which also serves the neighboring town of Rowley.
Poitras, who will turn 33 in December and will bid farewell to the parish following a Mass on Sept. 12, says he has nothing but fond memories of St. Agatha, which was his first parish assignment and where he has served for more than four years.

“Everything [at St. Agatha] has been awesome,” he said. “Milton has been a great experience for me. The priest that I am today is because of this town and this parish.”

He had strong words of praise for the Rev. Peter Casey, pastor of St. Agatha, who he said taught him to “work with your heart, especially as a priest.”

“We’ve had a great ride together,” said Poitras. “I couldn’t have asked for a better pastor for my first assignment.”

Casey is on vacation this week and was unavailable for comment.

Poitras has been directly involved with the youth ministry at St. Agatha. He said his favorite part of that work was traveling with the youths for the past two years to Nazareth Farm in West Virginia. During their visits, they enjoyed a week of prayer and served the needy by painting houses, repairing porches and doing other chores.

“[The youths] have great devotion to outreach,” said Poitras, who added that he also enjoyed more local experiences with the group, such as visits to the Council on Aging.

Poitras knows he will be one of the youngest pastors in the Archdiocese of Boston, if not the youngest, but said he’s looking forward to the challenge.

“It is an honor,” he said. “It’s great to have the trust of my fellow priests and the cardinal. It’s very humbling.”

Poitras was born in Boston, and raised in Lowell’s St. Patrick Parish. He attended the parish grammar school and Dracut High School before entering St. John Seminary College. After graduating from the seminary, he was assigned to theological studies at Rome’s Gregorian University with residence at the Pontifical North American College.

Poitras served a summer internship at St. Patrick Parish in Watertown, where O’Malley ordained him a deacon before he returned to Rome to complete his seminary formation.

O’Malley ordained him to the priesthood at Holy Cross Cathedral on May 21, 2005, and he returned to Rome to complete further theological studies. The cardinal named him as parochial vicar at St. Agatha in April 2006.

Poitras said he’s looking forward to his farewell Mass, which he will celebrate Sunday, Sept. 12, at noon. It will be followed by a reception in his honor.

“It will give me a chance to thank the folks of Milton and Quincy for all they’ve done,” he said, adding with a chuckle, “and, I guess, a chance for them to thank me.”