Paul F. Morrissey

Paul Francis Morrissey, a recently prison chaplain in Philadelphia, writes to share the voices of the marginalized-- prisoners, LGBT people, the dying--to empower all of us with our own true voice. Fr. Paul is an Augustinian friar and ordained priest (55 years.) He received his doctoral degree in spiritual direction from Weston (Jesuit) College in Cambridge, Mass. He served as the Spiritual Care Coordinator for the Visiting Nurse Service Home Hospice Program in New York City in the early 1980's, founded The Austin Center for Counseling in the Bronx and New Rochelle (1994-2004), and served as a Chaplain in the Philadelphia Prison (2006-2019). He is the author of an award-winning memoir, "Let Someone Hold You: The Journey of a Hospice Priest," (1994), and a novel, "The Black Wall of Silence," (2015). He has recently completed his memoir and is seeking a publisher. Fr. Paul is a member of the St. Augustine Parish Community in Philadelphia; he celebrates the sacraments and offers spiritual direction there. Not to be completely serious, Paul enjoys bicycling, writing, politics, walks in the woods, and enjoying life with his large family and friends.