The Missionaries of the Precious Blood announce the 50th anniversary of the ordination of Fr. Barry Fischer, C.PP.S.
Fr. Fischer, a native of Columbia, Penn., entered the Congregation in 1960 at Brunnerdale, the Missionaries’ former high school seminary near Canton, Ohio. He was ordained in Santiago, Chile, on January 28, 1973.
Fr. Fischer began his life as a priest with ministry in Chile, where he served in parishes in Santiago and Rio Negro, and as rector of San Gaspar College, established by the Missionaries in Santiago. He was also coordinator of the mission’s lay associate program and was director of advanced and special formation for the mission’s candidates.
In 1989, he joined the Congregation’s mission in Guatemala, where he became rector of the C.PP.S. seminary in Guatemala City. He served as director of the C.PP.S. Central American mission from 1991-95.
During his time in Guatemala, Fr. Fischer was elected to the general council of the worldwide congregation. He was elected moderator general of the worldwide congregation in 1995, and was re-elected in 2001. He was a member of the executive committee of the Union of Superiors General.
After his second term as moderator general, he founded the International Spirituality Center in Salzburg, Austria, where he was the director.
Fr. Fischer has also given retreats and made presentations on Precious Blood spirituality throughout the world. He is the author of “The Cry of the Blood” and many articles on spirituality.
He returned to the States in 2017 and began his ministry in higher education, first at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., and, since 2019, at Marian University in Indianapolis, where he serves as a campus chaplain.
Through his preaching and writing, through countless presentations and retreats, in the way he carried out servant leadership,
Fr. Fischer has led the Congregation into a new time of reexamining Precious Blood spirituality. He gave the Precious Blood family, including Missionaries and lay associates throughout the world, new language for claiming their identity and their place in an ever-expanding circle.
Personable and warm, Fr. Fischer is happiest when he is living in community. If he can’t find one nearby, he’ll create one. And the people around him are always happy when he does.