The Rev. Paul Archambault was ordained in 2005.
Our Lady of Sacred Heart Church in SpringfieldSPRINGFIELD - A priest who was reported missing after he failed to show up to say Mass Sunday morning, was found dead later in the afternoon in a closet of the church rectory.
The priest died in the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish rectory on Rosewell St. Police are investigating the cause of death, Sgt. Christopher Hitas said.
The priest, Rev. Paul Archambault, 42, said Mass at 4 p.m., Saturday at St. Mary’s Parish in Hampden. He was scheduled to return Sunday morning, said Mark E. Dupont, spokesman for the Springfield Roman Catholic Diocese.
When he did not arrive, parish members contacted priests at Sacred Heart. Another came to the church to conduct the service and a search was started, he said.
“He was one of our younger priests. Most recently he had been instrumental in organizing the Eucharist Procession in Northampton,” Dupont said.
Archambault was not the regular pastor at St. Mary’s, but said Mass there occasionally. He also served as a chaplain for Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and did many special projects including recently serving at an all-night vigil in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
A native of Northampton, Archambault, graduated from St. John’s Seminary College in Brighton in 2000 and earned a master’s degree in divinity from Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Conn. He was ordained in 2005.