Archdiocesan news

Men and women religious with ties to St. Louis to be ordained, profess vows

Several men and women religious who have ties to St. Louis will be ordained or profess vows with their respective religious communities this year.

Society of Jesus (Jesuits)

Stewart

Matthew Stewart, SJ, is a St. Louis native who will be ordained to the priesthood for the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) USA Central and Southern Province on Aug. 15 at St. Francis Xavier “College” Church in St. Louis. Archbishop Robert J. Carlson will preside. The ordination will be livestreamed at bit.ly.UCSOrdinations2020.

Stewart will be ordained alongside David Lugo, SJ, a native of the Dominican republic, who was raised in Houston.

Stewart was born and raised in the Saint Louis area and attended St. Louis University High School. He attended Saint Louis University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music. He spent the next year as part of the Alum Service Corps (ASC) program, serving Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Mo., as a theology and music teacher.

Upon completion of the one-year volunteer program, Stewart was hired at his alma mater, SLUH, teaching there for six years. Stewart completed his master’s degree in theology at Saint Louis University.

Stewart entered the novitiate in Grand Coteau, La., performing apostolic work in New Orleans while at the novitiate. Following profession of first vows, he served in Bronx, New York, earning a master’s degree in philosophy from Fordham University; Denver, earning a master’s degree in choral conducting; and Boston, earning a licentiate in sacred theology at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry.

Following his ordination, Stewart will serve as parochial vicar at St. Francis Xavier “College” Church and assist at Loyola Academy, a Nativity model middle school.

Fr. Gibbons

Father Ian Gibbons, SJ, is anticipated to profess his final vows on Aug. 18. This year celebrates a quarter-century as a member of the Jesuits. Father Gibbons is the principal of Saint Louis University High School. He is a native of the St. Louis metropolitan area, graduating in 1987 from Edwardsville High School in Edwardsville, Ill.

Father Gibbons served at Regis High School in New York, Regis Jesuit High School in Denver, Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, Mo., and Strake Jesuit College Preparatory School in Houston.

Father Gibbons was ordained a priest in 2006.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s in business administration from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (SIUE) before entering the Society of Jesus in 1995. He also earned a master’s degree in American studies from Saint Louis University, a master’s degree in divinity from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology at Boston College and a master’s degree in Catholic school leadership from the Institute for Catholic School Leadership at the University of San Francisco.

Additionally, John Guyol, SJ, will be ordained in October as a transitional deacon for the Jesuits’ West Province. Guyol is a native of St. Louis, where he grew up in Immacolata Parish in Richmond Heights. He attended Chaminade College Preparatory School and

Guyol

Villanova University. He anticipates ordination to the priesthood in June of 2021.

After his studies at Villanova, Guyol spent a year with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest in Montana. He entered the novitiate in 2010, professed his first vows in 2012, and studied at Saint Louis University for three years. Guyol later taught at Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon, and is currently working on his studies in theology at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University in Berkeley, California. Guyol also spent a year working with Jesuit Refugee Services in Cameroon, Africa.

Order of Preachers (Dominicans)

Rev. Brother Joseph Paul Albin will be ordained to the priesthood on July 25 at St. Anthony of Padua in New Orleans, and Rev. Brother Christopher Johnson, OP, will be ordained to the priesthood on Aug. 8 at St. Vincent Ferrer Church in River Forest, Illinois. Brother Johnson assisted the pastor at St. Anthony of Padua Parish, and Brother Albin was assigned to St. Pius V Parish.

The Dominican Friars of the Provinces of St. Albert the Great and St. Martin de Porres celebrated the diaconate ordinations of four men on May 16. Those ordained were Brother James Pierce Cavanaugh, Brother Benjamin Keller, Brother Adrian McCaffery and Brother James Martin Nobles. Bishop Edward M. Rice of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau presided at the ordination.

Dominicans from both provinces study at Aquinas Institute of Theology and live in community at St. Dominic Priory, both in St. Louis.

Norbertine Fathers

Father Peregrine Patrick Fletcher, O.Praem., was ordained to the priesthood for the Norbertine Fathers on June 27 in Orange County, California. Father Fletcher grew up in St. Clement of Rome Parish in Des Peres, and attended homeschool through high school. He is a graduate of Cardinal Glennon College Seminary, and completed two years of theology studies at Kenrick School of Theology before joining the Norbertines.

Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Two Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with ties to St. Louis anticipate professing their final vows in Aug. 1 at Mount Sacred Heart in Hamden, Connecticut. Sister Elizabeth Doyle, ASCJ, is from St. Justin Martyr Parish in Sunset Hills. She graduated from Cor Jesu Academy in St. Louis, which is sponsored by the Apostles, and the University of Missouri-Columbia. Sister Christina Skelley, ASCJ, attended Washington University in St. Louis, where she was baptized in to the Catholic faith at the Catholic Student Center and currently teaches at St. Joseph School in Imperial.

Sister Clara Mahilia Roache also will profess her final vows in Aug. 1. A native of St. Lucia, she will be teaching theology at Cor Jesu Academy in St. Louis after her final vows.

Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus

Sister M. Grace Augustine Heisler, DCJ, professed her final vows with the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus on July 2 in St. Louis. She serves with her community at the Carmelite Child Development Center and at St. Agnes Home in Kirkwood.

Sister Mary Teresita Otto, DCJ, professed first vows on July 1 in St. Louis. She is from Ste. Genevieve du Bois Parish in Warson Woods and attended Cor Jesu Academy and Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri.

Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George

Two St. Louis natives will profess their final vows with the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George on Aug. 3 at St. Mary’s Church in Alton, Illinois. Sister Mary Francis Goodson, FSGM, is from Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in St. Louis and attended Rosati-Kain High School and Benedictine University. She currently is a high school math teacher in Champaign, Illinois. Sister M. Caterina Vola, FSGM, is from Immaculate Conception Parish in Dardenne Prairie. She is a graduate of Duchesne High School and Franciscan University. Sister M. Caterina currently serves as a nurse at Mother of Good Counsel Home in St. Louis.

Society of the Sacred Heart

Sister Juliet Mousseau, RSCJ, professed her final vows Jan. 26 in Rome. Sister Juliet is a professor of Church history at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis. She also has taught at Saint Louis University and Maryville University in St. Louis.

Information for this story was provided by the archdiocesan Office of Consecrated Life.