Rev. Brian Christensen

Fr. Christensen is a priest of the Diocese of Rapid City. He grew up on Long Island, NY, and after gradu­ating from St. Anthony’s High School, he attended the United States Air Force Academy and was com­missioned as an officer in 1987. After nearly seven years of military service, he entered seminary forma­tion and was ordained in 1999. Over the last twelve years, Fr. Christensen has served as parochial vicar at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral in Rapid City; Chaplain of the Rapid City Catholic School System; Newman Center Chaplain; and as pastor of St. John the Evangelist in Fort Pierre, SD. Currently, Fr. Christensen is the pastor of Holy Cross, Timber Lake, St. Mary’s, Isabel, and Queen of the Holy Rosary, Trail City. He was appointed Director of the Office of Vo­cations in July 2003 and served in that capacity until June 2011. Fr. Christensen has served as the Region VIII Coordinator for the NCDVD since 2009.

Rev. Brian G. Bashista

Fr. Bashista was born and raised in Northern Vir­ginia and is a priest of the Diocese of Arlington. He received a B.A. in Architecture from Virginia Tech in 1987 and worked as an architect in Charlotte, NC until 1994, when he entered seminary formation. After receiving his M. Div. & M.A. in theology from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1999. His first assignment was as parochial vicar at St. Mary of Sorrows Church in Fairfax. In the summer of 2002, he was assigned as the Diocesan Promoter of Voca­tions. From 2002-2003, he was also the diocesan Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. Since 2003, he has been serving full time as the Director of the Office of Vocations.

Rev. Timothy M. Gallagher, OMV

Fr. Gallagher was ordained in 1979 as a mem­ber of the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, a religious community dedicated to retreats and spiritual formation according to the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. He obtained his doctorate in 1983 from the Gregorian University. He has taught (St. John’s Seminary, Brighton, MA; Our Lady of Grace Seminary Residence, Boston, MA), assisted in formation work for twelve years, and served two terms as provincial in his own community. He has dedicated many years to an extensive ministry of retreats, spiritual direction, and teaching about the spiritual life. Fr. Gallagher is the author of six books (Crossroad) on the spiritual teaching of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Rev. Paul Hoesing

Fr. Hoesing is a rural native of the Omaha Archdio­cese. He attended St. John Vianney Seminary in St. Paul (1996-1998) and continued formation for the priesthood at the North American College. Ordained by Archbishop Elden F. Curtiss in 2002, he returned to complete the licentiate in dogmatic theology at the Gregorian University in Rome. He then served three years as the parochial vicar of St. Bernard parish in Omaha with teaching and chaplaincy duties at Ron­calli Catholic High School, and two more years as the parochial vicar at rural St. Patrick parish in O’Neill, NE with teaching duties at St. Mary High School. He has been the Director of Vocations since June 2008. In July 2010, he was able to participate in the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises 30 days Silent Retreat at the Insti­tute for Priestly Formation in Creighton University.

Anne Marie Gibbons

Ms. Gibbons is the Director of the Center for Reli­gious Immigration and Protection of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC). She joined CLINIC in 1998 and has been with the Cen­ter since 2000. She and her staff of seven attorneys, practice exclusively in religious immigration law, representing Catholic dioceses and religious com­munities, bringing foreign born priests, brothers, sisters, novices, seminarians, and religious workers into the U.S. to serve the Church. Before joining CLINIC, Anne Marie was in private practice and also was the coordinator of the American Bar As­sociation project in South Texas to provide pro bono representation to indigent and detained asylum seekers.

Rev. Joseph Hirsch

Fr. Hirsch is a priest of the Diocese of LaCrosse. He comes from a family of nine children and has been a priest for 25 years, ordained in 1986. He was an as­sociate at the Cathedral parish (1986-89), and then served as high school chaplain at Assumption High School, Wisconsin Rapids, and pastor of St. Joseph, Altdorf (1989-98). He was chaplain to the Hmong in the diocese for thirteen years, overlapping other assignments. He was pastor of four small parishes with Hispanic ministry for four years (1998-2002) and has been Vocation Director for the Diocese un­til the present time. Five of those years he was also Vicar for Clergy for the Diocese. As of July 2011, he is now the Director of the Holy Cross House of For­mation in the Diocese besides his duties as Vocation Director.

Rev. Thomas Loya

Fr. Loya is a priest of the Byzantine Catholic Church in the Eparchy of Parma and is currently pastor of Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Parish in Homer Glen, IL. Fr. Loya has a background in art and coun­seling. The icon murals he painted in his church can be viewed at byzantinecatholic.com. Fr. Loya is currently the host of three radio programs. He has ap­peared on EWTN and was a speaker at World Youth Day in Toronto, Canada. He is a conference speaker for TOBIA (Theology of the Body International Alli­ance) and also for the Tabor Life Institute for educa­tion and formation in the theology of the body. Using his life experience and gifts, Fr. Loya uncovers the ageless beauty of the Sacramental worldview and the “why” behind the Church’s teaching on the hot but­ton issues of our day. Those who have heard Fr. Loya speak say that he has the soul of an artist, the mind of a theologian, and the compassion of an ascetic.

Rev. Kyle Schnippel

Ordained in 2004, Fr. Schnippel taught full time at Cincinnati’s Elder High School, a Catholic all-boys high school. After two years of teaching, he was reassigned to the Vocation Office, where over the last five years, he has overseen redevelopment of vocation office website and development of social media outreach through blogging, Facebook, and Twitter. In each of the last 3 years, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati has had double digit numbers of new seminarians, with a particular focus of increasing our numbers among college seminarians.

Sam Alzheimer

Sam is the president of Vianney Vocations, an orga­nization that promotes priestly vocations and helps diocesan vocation directors increase their number of seminarians. He is the editor and publisher of To Save a Thousand Souls: A Guide for Discerning a Vocation to Diocesan Priesthood.

An expert in Catholic communications, Sam has served over 200 parishes and dioceses since 1996. Before founding Vianney Vocations, he served for eight years as Vice President of Catholic Steward­ship Consultants, Inc., overseeing educational cam­paigns and giving presentations to priests and par­ish leaders. Sam is a former seminarian and studied philosophy and theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville. He lives in Valdosta, Georgia with his wife Michele, three daughters, and one son.

Rev. David Toups

Fr. Toups, ordained in 1997, is a pastor in the Diocese of St. Petersburg in Florida. He has previ­ously served as parochial vicar, seminary professor and dean of students, and as the Director of the USCCB’s Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations. His doctoral dissertation has been published under the title Reclaiming Our Priestly Character (The Institute for Priestly Formation, 2008).

Sr. Marysia Weber, RSM, DO

Sr. Weber, a Religious Sister of Mercy of Alma, MI, is a physician certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She completed her resi­dency and a fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Roch­ester, MN in 1989 and practices at Sacred Heart Mercy Health Care Center. Her primary work in­cludes assessing and treating seminary candidates, priests, and religious. She has also offered forma­tion workshops on a variety of formation issues for US Bishops, seminary formators and vocation di­rectors. She presented to the U.S. Bishops in Dallas on “Pedophilia and Other Addictions” (1992). She was a member of the USCCB Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse in 1994-1995. Sr. Weber presented to the Curia, Vatican City State on “Sexual Abuse of Minors by Clergy in North America” in 2002.

Rev. James Crisman

Fr. Crisman was ordained for the Archdiocese of Denver in June of 2001. He served as a parochial vicar and then administrator before his appoint­ment to vocations ministry in 2005.

As the Director of Priestly Vocations, Fr. Jim has established a strong culture of vocations in the Archdiocese of Denver through new events, more efficient office practices, and increased presence at parishes and with prospects.

Rev. John Riccardo

Fr. Riccardo is a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit. He was ordained in 1996 and is currently the pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church in Plymouth, MI. Fr. John is also the host of “Christ is the Answer,” available on many Catholic radio stations.