Homilists At 2004 Eucharistic Congress

Bishop J. Kevin Boland (homilist during the morning service of exposition of the Blessed Sacrament) is bishop of the Diocese of Savannah, Ga. Born in Monkstown, County Cork, Ireland, Bishop Boland, 69, attended Christian Brothers College in Cork and All Hallows Seminary in Dublin. He also received a master’s degree from Fordham University in New York. Ordained to the priesthood on June 14, 1959 for the Diocese of Savannah, he celebrates his 45th anniversary of ordination this year. Called from the ranks of the priests of the Savannah Diocese, where he served as a pastor and as chancellor and vicar general, he was ordained bishop of Savannah on April 18, 1995 at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. He is the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Marriage and Family. He presently serves as Region IV representative on the USCCB Administrative Committee and on the Board of the Southeast Pastoral Institute.

Bishop Joseph Galante (principal celebrant and homilist for the closing Mass) was installed in 2004 as the new bishop of the Diocese of Camden, N.J. Previously he served as the coadjutor bishop of Dallas, Texas, from 1999-2004, as bishop of Beaumont, Texas, from 1994-99, and as auxiliary bishop of San Antonio, Texas, from 1992-94. A priest for 40 years, ordained for the Philadelphia Archdiocese, he holds a doctorate in canon law from the Lateran University in Rome, Italy, and a master of arts in spiritual theology from the University of St. Thomas, Rome. Bishop Galante, 65, served as a seminary professor of canon law and as vicar for Religious in the Philadelphia Archdiocese and as an undersecretary of the Vatican Congregation for Religious from 1987-92 in Rome. He is a member of the Pontifical Council on Social Communications and of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Sexual Abuse.

Music for the procession of the Eucharist into the convention center and the adoration and exposition service will be provided by Ed Bolduc and Band. Music will begin at 8 a.m. Ed Bolduc is director of music at St. Ann Church, Marietta.

Music for the closing Mass will be provided by a 60-voice combined choir from St. Brigid Church, Alpharetta, and St. Andrew Church, Roswell, under the direction of Rhett Barnwell, St. Brigid music director, and Linda Morgan, St. Andrew choir director.

General Track

Jeff Cavins, a convert to Catholicism, received a master’s degree in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. He and Scott Hahn, Ph.D., taped a 13-week series entitled “Our Father’s Plan,” which is a journey through historical periods of the Bible currently shown on the Eternal Word Television Network. Cavins hosts a nationally broadcast show on the Starboard Radio Network entitled “Morning Air” and is the adult formation minister at the Church of St. Paul in Ham Lake, Minn. His faith story is found in his autobiography “My Life on the Rock.” He is also co-author of the “Amazing Grace” book series, as well as a contributing author for the new books “Catholic for a Reason: Scripture and the Mystery of the Family of God” and “Catholic for a Reason II” published by Emmaus.

Raymond Arroyo is the news director and lead anchor for the Eternal Word Television Network, which serves over 80 million homes through the world’s largest religious network. He is responsible for its live coverage of news events from around the world including papal visits. Known for his penetrating interviews, he has interviewed everyone from Mother Teresa to Mel Gibson to Placido Domingo. He served for two years as Mother Angelica’s regular co-host on her popular live show. His prior positions include working as a Capitol Hill correspondent at CBN News where he covered the 1992 presidential election and the 1994 congressional elections.

Marcellino D’Ambrosio earned his Ph.D. in historical theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he wrote his dissertation on Cardinal Henri de Lubac of the Second Vatican Council and his recovery of biblical interpretation of the early Church Fathers, under the direction of renowned Jesuit theologian Cardinal Avery Dulles. This experience brings uncommon depth to his teaching, while five children and years in the business world bring relevance and practicality to his talks, which are humorous and down-to-earth. He is a weekly columnist for Our Sunday Visitor, his weekly radio and television appearances reach six continents and his book “Exploring the Catholic Church,” CDs and videos are distributed worldwide. In 2001 he left his position at the University of Dallas to expand the work of Crossroads Productions, an apostolate of Catholic renewal and evangelization that he co-founded 20 years ago.

Deal W. Hudson, Ph.D., has recently written a book in which he credits Msgr. Richard Lopez, chaplain at St. Pius X High School, Atlanta, with his conversion to the Catholic faith. Hudson is publisher and editor of Crisis magazine, a Catholic monthly published in Washington, D.C., and a commentator on public affairs in light of religion and the Catholic faith. His articles and comments have been published in national newspapers and magazines including The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, National Review, The Village Voice, Roll Call and The Economist. He has appeared on NBC Nightly News, “One on One” with John McLaughlin, C-Span’s “Washington Journal,” NET’s “Capitol Watch,” “The Beltway Boys,” “The Religion and Ethics Newsweekly” on PBS, and been heard on “All Things Considered” on National Public Radio. He was previously chairman of the philosophy department at Mercer University in Atlanta, an associate professor of philosophy at Fordham University in New York and a visiting professor at New York University. He has published many reviews and articles as well as four books.

Christopher West holds a master’s degree in theological studies from the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C., and a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from the University of Maryland in College Park. He is a visiting professor at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Melbourne, Australia, and an adjunct professor at the St. John Vianney Theological Seminary of Our Lady of the New Advent Theological Institute in Denver. He has given approximately 1,000 public lectures since 1997 on topics including Christian anthropology, the Creed, morality, sacraments, marriage, sexuality and family life. He is the former director of the Office of Marriage and Family Life for the Archdiocese of Denver and has written “Theology of the Body Explained: A Commentary on John Paul II’s Gospel of the Body” and “Good News About Sex & Marriage: Answers to Your Honest Questions About Catholic Teaching.”

Alan Keyes, Ph.D., holds a doctorate in government from Harvard University and has spent 11 years in government service in the U.S. State Department and as a presidential appointee to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. A Catholic, an author and speaker concerned with the moral fabric of the United States, he articulates a strongly pro-life viewpoint and speaks on the importance of faith and the need as a society to acknowledge God. “We stand on the threshold of an era when the greatest temptation will be to take overweening pride in our seeming achievements and to regard them with a sense of self-sufficiency that releases us from the boundaries of ordinary moral judgment,” Keyes wrote in WorldNet Daily Exclusive Commentary in 2000. “What could be more necessary than the humbling and limiting acknowledgment that there is, in fact, a God, and we are not Him? This essential element of religious faith will become ever more crucial to our well being and, indeed, to the survival of humanity in the course of the century to come.”

Russ Spencer, FOX-5 news anchor, will be the emcee for the General Track. A graduate of Princeton University in New Jersey, he previously worked as a reporter and weekend news anchor for WYOU-TV in Scranton, Pa., as an anchor for WCTI-TV in North Carolina and as an anchor and reporter at KMGH-TV in Denver and has received Associated Press awards for spot and general news reporting. He has also taught in Guatemala, Central America, and worked as a freelance reporter in that country and Nicaragua. He and his wife, Isa, a native of Bolivia, and their children are members of St. Brigid Church, Alpharetta.

Hispanic Track

Father José Duvan Gonzalez, administrator of San Felipe de Jesus Mission, Forest Park, and priest liaison to the Hispanic Apostolate of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, will give an introduction in the Spanish-language track.

Bishop José H. Gomez, S.T.D., a native of Monterrey, Mexico, and a naturalized U.S. citizen, has distinguished himself as a respected national leader among Hispanic priests, an enthusiastic supporter of vocations to the priesthood and Religious life, and a promoter of the vocation of the laity to holiness and to applying their faith to their daily lives. He is auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Denver, where he serves as vicar general, moderator of the curia and as a pastor. Ordained a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei, he holds a doctorate in moral theology from the University of Navarre, Pomplona, Spain. He worked with young adults in the Archdiocese of Monterrey, Mexico, and at St. Bartholomew Parish in Katy, Texas. He served as executive director of the National Association of Hispanic Priests, as regional representative and as president. He has also served as treasurer for the National Catholic Council of Hispanic Ministry and on the steering committee for Encuentro 2000, a national celebration of the Jubilee Year. In 2003 he was awarded the National Association of Hispanic Priests’ “El Buen Pastor” Award. He spearheaded the establishment of the new Centro San Juan Diego for Family and Pastoral Care, a place for formation of lay leaders and services to immigrants.

Bishop Felipe de Jesús Estévez, S.T.D., auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Miami, was born in 1946 in Havana, Cuba, and arrived in the United States as a teenager. He was ordained in 1970 and has completed extensive studies in spiritual theology, earning a doctorate from Gregorian University in Rome. He is fluent in English, Spanish, French and Italian. From 2001-03, he served as spiritual director of St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Fla., where he had served as rector from 1980-86. He was pastor of St. Agatha Parish in Miami for 14 years, while also directing campus ministry at Florida International University. Appointed auxiliary bishop in 2003, he oversees the archdiocese’s Ministry of Pastoral Services, including family life, youth, campus, prison and Respect Life ministries, and apostolic movements.

Johnny Romero was born in the rough neighborhoods of San Fernando, Calif. He fell away from the faith through anti-Catholic proselytizing. Brought back through the efforts of his brother Jesse, he came back with zeal to spread the truth of the Catholic faith. He is now a dynamic bilingual lay apologist. A former Marine and super middleweight kickboxing champion, he spreads the Gospel with enthusiasm and passion, specializing in apologetics, retreats, youth events, Bible studies and bilingual events.

Angel R. Garcia, a member of St. Benedict Church, Duluth, who is active both in Regnum Christi and the Cursillo movement, will be the emcee for the Hispanic Track.

Music will be provided by a special Hispanic choir, El Coro del Congreso Eucaristico de 2004, made up of 16 people from 10 parishes.

Teen Track

Jason Evert, 26, is a lay apologist who works for Catholic Answers, a nonprofit Catholic apologetics and evangelization ministry in San Diego, Calif. Holder of a master’s degree in theology and counseling, he speaks internationally to tens of thousands of teens on the topic of chastity and Catholic apologetics. He was a speaker at the National Catholic Youth Conference in 2003 in Houston, Texas.

Jeff Cavins is a Catholic apologist and author of “My Life on the Rock,” and co-author with Scott Hahn, Ph.D., of “Our Father’s Plan,” a 13-week series on historical periods of the Bible shown on the Eternal Word Television Network. He is a contributing author of the new books “Catholic for a Reason: Scripture and the Mystery of the Family of God” and “Catholic for a Reason II” published by Emmaus.

APeX Ministries is made up of two multitalented young men, Gene and Brad, who have helped to spread the word of God and to build community through laughter and interaction and, yes, to provoke people to think about life and spirituality. They have performed during the papal visit to St. Louis, Mo., in 1999 and at the National Catholic Youth Conferences in Kansas City, Mo., St. Louis, Mo., Indianapolis, Ind., and Houston, Texas.

Paul George, Southeastern Hub coordinator for LIFETEEN, will be the emcee for the Teen Track.

Music will be provided by Ed Bolduc and Band. Ed Bolduc was schooled as a classical pianist and has served as music minister for the LIFETEEN program at the Church of St. Ann, Marietta, for the past 12 years. He has led music for Steubenville Atlanta high school youth conferences and for XLT, a weekly praise and worship time for teens in the Atlanta Archdiocese. He has composed over 65 songs for Catholic liturgical settings and youth ministries and works extensively with Tom Booth, national music director of LIFETEEN, to compose music that will help teens develop a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.