SPEAKERS
Bishop Joseph Strickland
Bishop of Tyler
Bishop Joseph Edward Strickland was born the sixth child of Raymond and Monica Strickland on October 31, 1958 in Fredericksburg, Texas and relocated to Atlanta, Texas in June of 1963. He entered Holy Trinity Seminary and the University of Dallas, studying for the Diocese of Dallas in August of 1977, and earned a Bachelor of Philosophy in May of 1981. He continued his education at Holy Trinity and the University of Dallas and his Master of Divinity Degree in May of 1985 and was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Dallas on June 1, 1985.
He was assigned as a newly ordained priest to Immaculate Conception Church in Tyler, Texas in June of 1985. Upon the erection of the Diocese of Tyler on February 24, 1987, Fr. Strickland joined the presbyterate of the new diocese and was named the first Vocation Director for the Diocese in March of 1987 by Bishop Charles Herzig. He completed his canonical studies with a Licentiate in Canon Law in May of 1994 and was assigned by Bishop Edmond Carmody as Rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler, Texas in June of that same year. He continued to serve as Rector and also as Judicial Vicar of the Diocese.
On February 1, 2010, Bishop Corrada appointed him as Vicar General, which he served as until September of 2011. At that time, Bishop Corrada was installed as the second Bishop of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, and he appointed Fr. Strickland as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Tyler sede vacante. On September 29, 2012 it was announced that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI had chosen him as the Fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Tyler. Bishop Strickland was ordained to the episcopacy on November 28, 2012.
Fr. Don Calloway, MIC
Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, a convert to Catholicism, is a member of the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception. Before his conversion, he was a high school dropout who had been kicked out of a foreign country, institutionalized twice, and thrown in jail multiple times. After his radical conversion, he earned a BA in philosophy and theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio; MDiv and STB degrees from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.; and an STL in Mariology from the International Marian Research Institute in Dayton, Ohio. He leads pilgrimages to Marian Shrines around the world and is the author of 14 books. His latest best-selling book is Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father.
Find out more at www.fathercalloway.com and www.consecrationtostjoseph.org
Fr. Zachary of the Mother of God, Solt
Fr. Zachary of the Mother of God, is a member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT.) He currently serves as the Director of Formation and Vocations Director for the American Region of SOLT. Previously, he served as Rector of the Post Novitiate House of Formation in the Asia-Pacific Region of SOLT to prepare seminarians to become missionary priests. He also acted as a Lay servant of the Worldwide Community and had responsibilities for the administration and formation of the lay faithful.
Fr. Zachary is a former Attorney at Law in the State of California who testifies that he has experienced the infinite Mercy of God in a profound and personal way. His appearances on EWTN, as well as his worldwide travels, enable him to help teach and lead Catholics to live their Baptismal promises by responding to the universal call to holiness. Fr. Zachary believes, as St. Pope John Paul II declared that, “the Church draws her life from Christ in the Eucharist; by Him she is fed and by Him she is enlightened.”
Father has also been the keynote speaker at the Rosary Sunday event here in Phoenix. His love and commitment to the priesthood, the Eucharist, Our Lady, and Holy Mother Church is evident in his life and mission.
Michael O’Neill
Michael O’Neill is an award-winning author, EWTN Radio and television host, and creator of the the popular miracle-tracking website, MiracleHunter.com. O’Neill, a graduate of Stanford University and member of the Mariological Society of America, has been interviewed about his research numerous times on programs like NBC Today, The Dr. Oz Show and The History Channel.
He was the consultant for the National Geographic magazine December 2015 cover story and map about the Virgin Mary “The Most Powerful Woman in the World” and was interviewed as the Marian expert on the corresponding television piece for NatGeo Explorer.
He is the host of the weekly EWTN Radio program “The Miracle Hunter®” and the weekly EWTN docuseries “They Might Be Saints” about the lives and intercessory miracles of future American saints. His new EWTN travel series “Explore with Miracle Hunter” debuted on February 11th with an episode about Lourdes.
He has written numerous books including his latest, the Catholic Press Association Award winner “Virgin, Mother, Queen” (Ave Maria Press). His annual international pilgrimage will be from October 18-27 visiting the Marian apparition sites of France including for the 150th anniversary of La Salette and the 175th anniversary of Pontmain.
Main link: EWTN, The Miracle Hunter
Purchase Link: Virgin, Mother, Queen (book)
Purchase Link: Exploring the Miraculous (book)
Purchase Link: Marian Rosary bracelet
Fr. Jozo Grbes, OFM
Fr. Jozo “Joe” Grbes, O.F.M. studied philosophy and theology at colleges in Sarajevo, Canterbury and London, England where he graduated in 1992. He arrived in the United States the same year and was ordained a priest on February 7, 1993, at SS. Cyril and Methodius Parish in New York.
After his ordination, he continued his pastoral duties in the same parish as well as post-graduate studies. In 1996, Fr. Jozo was sent to St. Jerome’s in Chicago where he served as assistant pastor and pastor till 2012 when he was elected Franciscan Custos/ Superior for the Croatian Franciscan Fathers in the USA and Canada (a part of the Franciscan Province of Medjugorje).
He resides at the Franciscan Friary in Chicago.
Fr. Steven A. Kunkel
Pastor, St. Thomas the Apostle Roman Catholic Church, Phoenix, Arizona and Spiritual Director for the Arizona Peace Center
Fr. Kunkel was raised in an Army family and graduated from Fayetteville State University with a BS in Computer Science.
After working for Wachovia Bank, he entered the seminary, studying at St. Meinrad Seminary, earning a MDiv. He was ordained for the Diocese of Phoenix in 2001 and has been pastor of Resurrection Parish in Tempe and Christ the King Parish in Mesa.