Fr. Ray Benoit

Ordination Date: June 3, 1989
Birthday: May 19

Fr. Ray Benoit grew up in Putnam, CT, the son of Raymond and Lorraine Benoit. He was the second of four children, having one older sister and two younger sisters. He received a BA in Philosophy from Boston College and prepared for the priesthood at Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary.

On June 3, 1989, Fr. Ray was ordained and went on to serve as Parochial Vicar at St. Mary Church in Chelmsford for almost five years. He then participated in Clinical Pastoral Education for nine months to fulfill the requirements of Certification as a Hospital Chaplain by the National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC) in January 1995. He served in that capacity for more than ten years primarily at Boston Medical Center, while being in residence at St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in Dorchester, MA.

In February of 2005, he arrived at St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in Lowell in as Parochial Vicar, and in July of that same year, Cardinal Seán O’Malley appointed him as Administrator, where he continued to build on the work of his predecessors until June 30, 2021.

Fr. Ray was granted Senior Priest/Retirement status effective July 1, 2021, in conjunction with St. Margaret of Scotland, St. Mary Parish and St. John the Evangelist coming together to form The Holy Rood Collaborative.