His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo
Archbishop of Galveston-Houston
President of the USCCB
His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo is the metropolitan archbishop of Galveston-Houston and pastor to its 1.3 million Catholics. His seats are St. Mary Cathedral Basilica in Galveston and the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston.
He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1977 and served as parish pastor, seminary professor, spiritual director, and in the chancery. From 1984 to 1991, he worked in Rome as a staff member for the Congregation for Bishops, as director of Villa Stritch (the house for American clergy), and as adjunct professor at the Pontifical North American College. In 1991 he returned to Pittsburgh, serving as pastor to several parishes and again in the chancery.
He was appointed coadjutor bishop of Sioux City, Iowa and ordained there as a bishop in October 1997. As his Episcopal motto he adopted: Ave Crux Spes Unica, meaning "Hail the Cross, Our Only Hope." He succeeded retiring Bishop Lawrence Donald Soens of Sioux City in November of 1998.
He was named coadjutor bishop (later coadjutor archbishop) of Galveston-Houston in January 2004 and succeeded Archbishop Joseph Fiorenza on February 28, 2006. On June 29, 2006, he received the pallium from Pope Benedict XVI. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals in November of 2007 at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. As a member of the Sacred College, he served as a Cardinal-Elector in the Papal Conclave of 2013, which saw the election of Pope Francis to the See of Peter. In 2016 he was elected by his brother bishops as the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for a three-year term. He is a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, the Pontifical Council for the Economy, and is on the Board of Trustees of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
The Most Reverend Frederick F. Campbell
Bishop of Columbus
Former Chair Bishops Committee on the Diaconate
The Most Reverend Frederick F. Campbell, D.D., Ph.D., was appointed Bishop of Columbus on October 14, 2004, by His Holiness Pope John Paul II. He was installed as the 11th. Bishop of Columbus at St. Joseph Cathedral on January 13, 2005 and has served as the shepherd of the diocese since then.
A native of Elmira, New York, Bishop Campbell earned a bachelor’s degree in history and foreign language from Saint Lawrence University, Canton, New York, and obtained his master’s degree and doctorate in history from The Ohio State University. Prior to entering the seminary in 1976, he served as a history professor at the Pontifical College Josephinum and as an assistant professor of history at California State College in San Bernardino. After studying at the Saint Paul Seminary, Saint Paul, Minnesota, he was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis by the Most Reverend John R. Roach at the Cathedral of Saint Paul on May 31, 1980. Campbell served as an associate pastor and pastor in the archdiocese until Pope John Paul II named him Auxiliary Bishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in 1999. He was ordained to the Episcopate by Archbishop Harry J. Flynn on May 14 of that year in the Cathedral of Saint Paul.
In July 2002, Bishop Campbell became rector and vice president of the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity of the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul. He also served as chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on the Diaconate from 2004 to 2006.
The Most Reverend Gregory M. Aymond
Archbishop of New Orleans
Convention Host and Keynote Presenter
The 14th Archbishop of New Orleans, Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond, is the first New Orleans native to serve as archbishop in the 216-year history of the archdiocese.
In 1971, he received his undergraduate degree from St. Joseph Seminary College. In 1975, he received a master's degree in divinity from Notre Dame Seminary and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He was a professor and later rector of St. John Vianney Preparatory School until 1981. He then served as professor of pastoral theology and homiletics and director of pastoral education at Notre Dame Seminary where he later served as president-rector for 14 years. He also served as Executive Director of the archdiocesan Department of Christian Formation and as the archdiocesan Director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. In the 1980s he founded and lead a regular medical mission program to Nicaragua.
Archbishop Aymond was ordained auxiliary bishop of New Orleans in 1997, named Bishop of Austin in 2000, and appointed Archbishop of New Orleans in 2009. He has served as chairman of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People and the Committee on Divine Worship. He was also Chair of the Board of the National Catholic Educational Association from 2000-2004. He continues to serve on several US bishops' committees and currently chairs the board of the National Catholic Bioethics Center.
Deacon William Ditewig
Deacon of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC
Former Executive Director of the Bishops Committee on the Diaconate, Author of 8 books on the Diaconate
Deacon Bill Ditewig, Ph.D., is a deacon of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC, but currently is Executive Professor of Theology at Santa Clara University and serves as Director of Faith Formation, Diaconate, and Pastoral Planning for the Diocese of Monterey.
Bill Ditewig was born and raised in Peoria, Illinois, spending high school and college as a seminarian for the Peoria Diocese. Following graduation from college in 1971, Bill joined the Navy serving 22 years in various locations and capacities eve eventually rising to the rank of Commander and was recipient of numerous awards and citations. Deacon Ditewig was ordained for the Archdiocese of Washington in 1990. He retired from the Navy in 1993.
In September 2002, Bill joined the senior staff of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops where he served as the Executive Director of both the Secretariat for the Diaconate and the Secretariat for Evangelization and as a Hebrew consultant to the Bishops’ Committee on Scripture Translations. After completing five years at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, Dr. Ditewig served as Professor of Theology, Director of Graduate Programs in Theology, and interim chair of the Philosophy, Theology & Religious Studies Department at Saint Leo University near Tampa, Florida. In June 2011, Dr. Ditewig was appointed to the senior diocesan staff of the Diocese of Monterey, California, while continuing as a professor of Theology and consultant on the diaconate.
Deacon Ditewig has authored numerous books, chapters and articles and assisted in the preparation of the National Directory for the Formation, Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States.
Bill and his wife Diann, who is a professional artist, have been married for forty-two years and they have four grown children and eleven grandchildren.
Deacon James Keating
Institute for Priestly Formation, Creighton University
Author of 5 books on diaconal spirituality
Deacon James Keating, Ph.D., is Director of Theological Formation at the Institute for Priestly Formation at Creighton University and is the director of the Office of the Permanent Diaconate for the Archdiocese of Omaha. Before joining the staff of the IPF Deacon Keating taught moral and spiritual theology for thirteen years in the School of Theology at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. He has given over 400 workshops, retreats and days of reflection on the Catholic spiritual/moral life. In the field of his professional research, the interpenetration of the spiritual and moral life, Deacon Keating has authored or edited 15 books and dozens of essays for theological journals.
The Most Reverend Gerald F. Kicanas
Diocese of Tucson
Former Executive Director Bishops Committee on the Diaconate
The Most Reverend Gerald Kicanas was born in Chicago, Illinois. He attended the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, from where he obtained his licentiate in Sacred Theology. He was ordained to the priesthood on April 27, 1967, and then earned a PhD in Educational Psychology and an MEd in Guidance and Counseling from Loyola University in Chicago.
After working as an associate pastor until 1978, Kicanas held various offices within the archdiocesan seminary for over twenty-five years. He was appointed rector of Mundelein Seminary at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in 1984.
On January 24, 1995, Kicanas was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on the following March 20 from Joseph Cardinal Bernardin. Kicanas’ episcopal motto is: "La Justicia Promueve La Paz", meaning "Justice begets peace" (Isaiah 32:17).
During his tenure as an auxiliary, he served as Episcopal Vicar for Vicariate I in the archdiocese, which includes Lake and Cook Counties. He also became highly involved with vocations, the permanent diaconate, and encouragement of lay ministry.
Kicanas was named Coadjutor Bishop of Tucson, Arizona on October 30, 2001, being formally installed as such on January 15, 2002. He later succeeded Manuel Moreno as the seventh Bishop of Tucson on March 7, 2003. Kicanas has been praised for his handling of the sexual abuse crisis in his diocese, which had declared bankruptcy due to settlement costs.
On November 13, 2007, he was elected Vice-President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops On February 28, 2008, Kicanas was chosen by the USCCB, and confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI, to become a member of the American delegation to the twelfth World Synod of Bishops, which was held in the Vatican from October 5 to October 26, 2012. On November 17, 2010 Kicanas was appointed chairman of the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Board of Directors by Cardinal Francis George, OMI, of Chicago, outgoing president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The Reverend W. Shawn McKnight
Pastor, Church of the Magdalene, Wichita
Former Executive Director of CCLV
Fr. McKnight was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Wichita in 1994. He holds an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of Dallas, two master’s degrees from the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, and licentiate and doctoral degrees in theology from the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm in Rome.
In addition to parish work, Fr. McKnight taught graduate studies at the Josephinum from 2003 to 2008 and served on the faculty of the St. Meinrad Permanent Deacon Formation Program. Fr. McKnight was a chaplain at Newman University in Wichita where he taught theology as an adjunct professor.
In 2010, Fr. McKnight was named Executive Director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Secretariat for Consecrated Life and Vocations. Fr. McKnight is currently the Pastor of Church of the Magdalene in Wichita.