Paul D. Scalia, son of the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, will be officially sworn in as St. James Catholic Church’s pastor this Saturday. He will be the 12th pastor for the 127-year-old Falls Church parish.
“Pope Francis once referred to the Catholic parish as the ‘family of families,’…Since 1892 Saint James has served that purpose for Falls Church,” Scalia said via a press release from St. James. “It is a great honor and blessing to be appointed pastor of Saint James Parish by Bishop [Michael F.] Burbidge. I am indebted to the good priests who have preceded me, the wonderful parish and school staff, and most especially to the parishioners.
A McLean native and graduate from nearby Langley High School, Scalia attended the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusets and later went on to study theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
Scalia was ordained to the priesthood in 1996. He has served as parochial vicar of St. Bernadette Church in Springfield (1996-2000); St. Patrick Church in Fredericksburg (2000-04) and St. Rita Church in Alexandria (2004-08). He was named parochial administrator of St. John the Beloved Church in McLean in 2008 before becoming the parish’s pastor in 2009. In Oct. 2015, Scalia was appointed episcopal vicar for clergy and director of the diaconate formation program for the Catholic Diocese of Arlington.
Scalia will be formally installed as pastor of St. James Catholic Church (103 N. Spring St., Falls Church) at a 5 p.m. mass on Saturday, Aug. 24.
