New LA priests 2025: Paul Collins
Paul Collins just wanted to help with the rats in Haiti.
When he was about 5 years old, a priest spoke in his parish — St. Sebastian Church in Santa Paula — something about the rat problem in Haiti. Whatever the story was, it made an impression on Collins, enough that he grew up thinking he wanted to be a missionary, maybe a priest.
“Certainly the idea of serving God and serving people who are in trouble was definitely always there,” said Collins, the second oldest of eight children.