Malvern Retreat Announces New Rector

The following release was submitted by Mary Flannery, director of marketing and public relations at Malvern Retreat House.

announced that Reverend Herbert J. Sperger has been appointed Rector, pro-tem, to direct the spiritual ministry of the largest Catholic retreat center in the country. 

Fr. Sperger, who has served the Archdiocese of Philadelphia since his ordination in 1979,  starts at Malvern Retreat this month as a temporary assignment while he continues a period of discernment with the Norbertine Order at the Daylesford Abbey.  Previously, he served as pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas parish in South Philadelphia and has extensive experience in adult faith formation in both English and Spanish.

 Malvern Retreat House, owned and operated by Catholic laity, was founded in 1912 and will celebrate its 100^th Anniversary next year with special events, spiritual programs and community service projects.  It annually hosts 20,000 men, women, families, married couples, religious and clergy.  A spiritual sanctuary on 125 acres, Malvern Retreat can accommodate 400 people overnight and offers traditional weekend programs as well as week-day retreats.

 “We are very pleased that Fr. Sperger, who is an experienced retreat director, has joined us,” said James A. Fitzsimmons, president of Malvern Retreat House.  “We expect even more retreatants to come here during our Anniversary Year and I know they will be inspired by Fr. Sperger’s guidance.”

Fr. Sperger succeeds  Fr. Gregory Hickey, who served as Rector since 2007 until beginning his new assignment from the Archdiocese as pastor of St. John Fisher parish in Boothwyn, Delaware County, last month.

Fr. Sperger also served as pastor of St. Michael and Immaculate Conception, twinned parishes in Philadelphia and worked in the Hispanic Apostolate (1985-2006) while teaching for four years at Bishop Shanahan, Cardinal Dougherty and Roman Catholic High Schools.

 He has been an adjunct personal spiritual director at St Charles Borromeo Seminary and a visiting retreat director at the Jesuit Center for Spiritual Growth, the IHM Sisters’ Villa Maria by the Sea, and Daylesford Abbey.

“The opportunity and privilege of taking time away from home, family and work responsibilities make the retreat experience unique in the lives of many Americans,” said Fr. Sperger. “Malvern  is a  significant ministry, not only within the diocese and for the sake of the Church, but for individual Catholics and other Christians. I look forward to advancing its spiritual mission by serving those who  come to us in their growth in knowledge and love of the Lord.”

Fr. Sperger, 58, who will be the ninth Rector at Malvern, grew up in Roslyn PA and graduated from Bishop  McDevitt High School in 1971. He graduated with a Masters in Divinity from  St Charles Borromeo Seminary in 1979.