Fr. Robert J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D.

As I reflect upon the election of the new Pope, I cannot help but believe that it was in every respect, divinely inspired. Jorge Mario Bergoglio is the perfect man for the contemporary Papacy. His concern for the poor and marginalized, his manifest love of people, and his authentic life of poverty and simplicity have already begun to restore credibility to a Church injured by scandal. Through his loving and faith-filled presence, people can see the Holy Spirit alive in the Church and they express their excitement about him openly. Virtually every homily and statement he makes includes a reference to the unconditional mercy and love of God – so central to his own spiritual life. I think the Church’s’ image and reality will begin to shine through this open, friendly, transparent, humble, loving presence who does not shy away from the press or the outside world.

Pope Francis brings a host of other gifts and talents along with his authentic spiritual presence. He is a true intellectual who has completed graduate work in chemistry, and has a high regard and capability for scientific inquiry. He has also done graduate studies in philosophy and doctoral studies in theology (in Germany) and is fluent in six languages (Spanish, Latin, Italian, German, French, and English). He is capable of engaging in and dialoguing with the scientific and academic worlds, and will be an outstanding leader in the intellectual evangelization efforts initiated by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. This will be very important to the Church in Europe and North America which have become increasingly beleaguered by unbelief – particularly among their younger members.

Pope Francis has published ten books on spiritual conversion, political and economic philosophy in the age of globalization, and philosophy of education. This gives him a remarkably deep preparation to lead the Church in both the northern and southern hemispheres. He will be an outstanding guide in helping to resolve problems of global economic inequalities, social injustice, and violations of fundamental human rights.

He also has a firm foundation in the fundamental principles governing the culture of life and the sanctity of marriage. He has articulated well his position against abortion, contraception, and same sex parenting, all of which he believes disorient and undermine the human heart as well as world culture. For Pope Francis, culture is a dynamic spirit within society that ought to be calling us to our highest selves (self-sacrificial love reflecting the transcendent dignity and mystery in which we are created) and away from our lower selves that mire us in narcissism. I think our new Pope will present a significant challenge to the current direction of world culture, and will be a light of Christ’s truth to the world.

Pope Francis has more than an abundance of administrative experience. He became Provincial Superior of the Jesuits in Argentina only five years after his ordination, and was Superior of the major seminary for many years after that. He has been Archbishop of Argentina for fifteen years, and has held many different leadership positions within the College of Cardinals and the international community of Bishops. He not only has vast administrative experience; but is also capable of using it wisely and strongly. He is not afraid to challenge or confront Church or secular leaders when he believes that improvements need to be made. It has been widely commented that the Roman Curia is in serious need of reorganization, and that some of the fiefdoms and bureaucratic centers need both realignment and “fresh minds.” Pope Francis seems to have the unique combination of deep respect and love for his colleagues as well as the “no nonsense approach to leadership” that will be indispensable for one of the most important tasks of his Papacy.

All this – and an Argentinian Jesuit besides!! I do not think we can underestimate the importance of having a Pope from Latin America (where 50% of the world’s Catholics reside) and also from the Southern Hemisphere which represents the world in which the Catholic Church is growing at a very rapid rate. Furthermore, I see Pope Francis’ Jesuit background as a great strength. He brings to the Papacy a deeply appropriated Ignatian contemplative spirit, a deep love of the Church (inspired by St. Ignatius in the Spiritual Exercises), a life authentically committed to the preferential option for the poor, and a love of intellectual repartee (which he has no doubt contended with at the Jesuit dinner table for decades). I think this makes him deeply spiritual, flexible, pastorally engaging, intellectual, and in some senses, fearless.

If my assessment of Pope Francis is correct, then I believe that the Conclave of Cardinals could not have been other than divinely inspired. The gifts that this extraordinary man brings to the Church will be indispensable to its future – both within and outside of it. Both Catholics and non-Catholics would be well advised to pray for his long life and his continued inspiration by the Holy Spirit.

Read more:  http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/US.php?id=7234

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsWPAnXQRMc

View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Archbishop of Philadelphia on July 19, 2011. He was installed as the ninth archbishop of Philadelphia on September 8, 2011. In 1999, building on the efforts of his predecessor in Denver, Archbishop Chaput founded St. John Vianney Theological Seminary.

For the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, Archbishop Chaput is currently Chair of the Subcommittee on Native American Catholics; a member of the Committee for Cultural Diversity in the Church and the Task Force for Health Care; a member of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty; and a consultant to the Committee for Pro-Life Activities.

He is author of two books: Living the Catholic Faith: Rediscovering the Basics (Servant, 2001) and Render Unto Caesar: Serving the Nation by Living Our Catholic Beliefs in Political Life (Doubeday, 2008).

Archbishop Chaput delivered a keynote address at the Second Annual Napa Institute Conference in 2012. He also serves as the Ecclesiastical Advisor to the Napa Institute Board.

Archbishop Nienstedt holds a Bachelor of Arts from Sacred Heart Major Seminary; a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University; and a Licentiate and Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Institute of Saint Alphonsus, Rome. His doctoral topic was “Human Life in a Test-tube; the Moral Dimension of In Vitro Fertilization and Embryo Transfer.”

On June 12, 1996, Pope John Paul II named Archbishop Nienstedt an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit. Cardinal Adam Maida, Archbishop of Detroit, ordained him a Bishop on July 9, 1996. Archbishop Nienstedt served as Bishop for the Dearborn, Downriver, Monroe, Northwest Wayne, Southland, and Western Wayne Vicariates from 1996-2001.

On June 12, 2001, Pope John Paul II named Archbishop Nienstedt the Third Bishop of the Diocese of New Ulm. He was installed on August 6, 2001.

On April 24, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI named Archbishop Nienstedt the Coadjutor Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of New Ulm. He served in this latter position until December 13, 2007. On May 2, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Archbishop Nienstedt will deliver a keynote at the Third Annual Napa Institute Conference in 2013.

In December of 1974, during his first year of college and with encouragement from a young parish priest he respected, Cordileone attended a seminary vocation retreat.  It was during this first year at San Diego State that Cordileone discerned his call to the Priesthood and entered St. Francis Seminary, transferring as a sophomore to the University of San Diego.

Cordileone graduated three years later in 1978 with a B.A. in Philosophy.  He was accepted to study in Rome and continued in the seminary at the Pontifical North American College.  He received the Bachelors Degree in Sacred Theology in 1981 from the Pontifical Gregorian University and then chose to return to be ordained a priest in San Diego and begin his first pastoral assignment.

On July 9, 1982, Bishop Leo T. Maher ordained the Reverend Salvatore Cordileone.  Soon thereafter he took up his assignment as associate pastor at St. Martin of Tours Parish in La Mesa, where he remained for three years.  In 1985 he was again sent to Rome, this time to study the new Code of Canon Law.  He spent the next four years again at the Gregorian University, completing his doctorate.

Upon Father Cordileone’s return to San Diego in 1989, he became secretary to Coadjutor Bishop Robert Brom and a year later became adjutant judicial vicar.  Pastoral work called to him again in 1991 and Father Cordileone accepted appointment as pastor of Calexico’s Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, four blocks from the Mexican border.

In 1995 he was called to Rome and for the next seven years served as assistant at the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church’s highest canonical court.

On July 5, 2002 Pope John Paul II appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of San Diego and he was ordained bishop on August 21, 2002 by Bishop Brom.  In addition to serving on the various consultative bodies of the Diocese during his years as auxiliary of San Diego, Bishop Cordileone also chaired the Corporate Board of Catholic Charities and was a member of the University of. San Diego Board of Trustees, serving on its Academic Affairs and Mission and Vision Committees.

On March 23, 2009 Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Cordileone to be Fourth Bishop of Oakland.  His Mass of Installation in the Diocese of Oakland was celebrated on May 5, 2009 at the Cathedral of Christ the Light.

Bishop Cordileone chairs the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage and sits on the Committee for Canonical Affairs and Church Governance, both of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB.)  He also serves on the Religious Liberties Committee of the California Catholic Conference.

He is a member of the following boards:  Board of Trustees, Catholic University of America; Governing Board of the International Theological Institute; Subcommission on the Liturgy for the Anglican Ordinariates; Oakland Police Foundation.

On July 27, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Cordileone as the Archbishop of San Francisco.

Archbishop Cordileone has attended both Napa Institute Conferences, where he has celebrated the Solemn Pontifical High Mass of the Extraordinary Form as each Conferences’ concluding Mass. He will, once again, celebrate the Solemn Pontifical Mass at the Third Annual Napa Institute Conference in 2013.

Archbishop Aquila was born on September 24, 1950, in Burbank, Cali. He was ordained to the priesthood in Denver on June 5, 1976, and served the Denver Archdiocese for 25 years before appointed being Coadjutor Bishop of Fargo, N.D. June 12, 2001. On March 18, 2002, he became bishop of Fargo upon the retirement of Bishop James Sullivan.

Archbishop attended the Second Annual Napa Institute Conference in 2012 and will participate on a panel on the New Evangelization at the Third Annual Napa Institute in 2013.

His education includes a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Fordham University, a master’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, the Master of Divinity Degree from the Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Mass., and a doctorate in Moral Theology from the Gregorian University in Rome, with specialization in fundamental moral theology and bioethics.

In 1981, Father Morlino became a priest of the Diocese of Kalamazoo and served there as Vicar for Spiritual Development, Executive Assistant and Theological Consultant to the Bishop, as Moderator of the Curia, and as the Promoter of Justice in the Diocesan Tribunal. On July 6, 1999, Pope John Paul II appointed him the Ninth Bishop of Helena.  Bishop Morlino was appointed the Fourth Bishop of Madison on May 23, 2003 and installed on August 1, 2003.

Bishop Morlino has served as chairman of two committees within the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) – the Bishops’ Committee on the Diaconate, and the Ad Hoc Committee on Health Care Issues and the Church. He has also served on the USCCB Bishops’ and Presidents’ Committee, which seeks to encourage the Catholic identity of institutions of higher education.

Bishop Morlino delivered a keynote at the Second Annual Napa Institute Conference. At the Third Annual Conference in 2013, Bishop Morlino will participate in a panel on the New Evangelization.

On November 19, 1999, he was named Bishop of Baker, Oregon by Pope John Paul II and received his episcopal consecration the following January. Eleven years later on January 24, 2011, Bishop Vasa, 59, was named the Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Santa Rosa in California, by Pope Benedict XVI. On 30 June 2011, Bishop Daniel F. Walsh’s resignation was accepted by Pope Benedict XVI, and so Bishop Vasa officially succeeded him as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa in California immediately afterwards.

The Napa Institute Conference operates within the Diocese of Santa Rosa. Bishop Robert Vasa has attended both Napa Institute Conferences and will participate in a panel on the New Evangelization at the 2013 Conference.

After his ordination on May 30, 1981, he was assigned to graduate studies in Canon Law at the Angelicum in Rome, with residence at the graduate house of the North American College in Rome, the Casa Santa Maria dell’ Umilta.

Upon returning to the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, Father Vann was involved in the work of the Diocesan Tribunal and the Tribunal of Second Instance in Chicago.  He taught Canon Law at Kenrick Seminary.

Bishop Vann was ordained and installed as the third bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth on Wednesday, July 13, 2005, at Texas Christian University’s Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.  Bishop Vann was a leader in the Texas Conference of Bishops, providing leadership for various initiatives at the national level.  He is a member of the USCCB Committee on Migration, as well as the Canonical Affairs Committee. Bishop Vann is the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith’s Ecclesiastical Delegate for the Pastoral Provision in the United States.

On September 21, 2012, His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI announced the appointment of Bishop Kevin W. Vann as the fourth Bishop of Orange.

Bishop Borys Gudziak was born on November 24, 1960 in Syracuse, New York and was ordained to the priesthood in 1998. He graduated from Syracuse University in 1980 with dual degrees in philosophy and biology. He continued studies in Rome at the College of St. Sophia and the Pontifical Urban University.

In 1992, he received his Ph.D. from Harvard University from its interdepartmental program of Slavic and Byzantine Cultural History. he then moved to Ukraine where he was appointed Chairman of the Commission for the Renewal of the Lviv Theological Academy by Myroslav Ivan Cardinal Lubachivsky. In 2000, he became President of the Ukrainian Catholic University, which was blessed in June of 2001 by Blessed Pope John Paul II during his Apostolic Visit to Ukraine.

On July 21, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Fr. Borys as Bishop of Paris for the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy (Diocese) of France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Luxembourg. He recieved his episcopal ordination on August 26, 2012 by Patriarch Sviatoslav Shevchuk.

Bishop Borys was installed as Bishop of Paris for the Eparchy (Diocese) of St. Vladimir in Paris’ famed Notre Dame Cathedral on December 2, 2012.

Fr. Spitzer is President of the Napa Institute and a member of its Board of Directors and annual speaker and master of ceremonies at each of the Conferences.

Fr. Mullady will deliver a keynote at the 2013 Napa Institute Conference.

Fr. Tacelli will be a speaker at the 2013 Napa Institute Conference.

The prestigious German publisher, Mohr Sienbeck, and Baker Academic have published his dissertation, The Temple in the Gospel of Mark: A Study in its Narrative Role. He is author of Praying Scripture for a Change: An Introduction to Lectio Divina, and The Luminous Mysteries, Sacraments in Scripture and Mission of the Messiah. Dr. Gray is currently working on a commentary on the Gospel of Luke for the new Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture published by Baker Academic Press. A nationally renowned speaker, Dr. Gray has filmed numerous series for EWTN.

Dr. Gray is a member the Napa Institute Board of Directors and is a speaker at Napa Institute Conferences.

He came to CUA from Boston College Law School, where he had served as dean since 1999. He brings 30 years of experience as a professor and administrator in higher education to his position at Catholic University.

John Garvey earned his J.D. in 1974 at Harvard Law School, where he served as treasurer of the Harvard Law Review, and he earned an A.B. in 1970 from the University of Notre Dame. He and his wife, Jeanne Walter Garvey, have been married for 35 years and have five children and 12 grandchildren. Garvey, whose interests include golf, swimming, gardening, and piano, was born Sept. 28, 1948, in Sharon, Pa.

He will deliver a keynote at the 2013 Napa Institute Conference.

Before CRS, she served as the dean of the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame from 1997. During Dean Woo’s tenure, the Mendoza College achieved number 1 ranking (BusinessWeek/Bloomberg) in 2010 and 2011. Prior to the University of Notre Dame, Dr. Woo served as Associate Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at Purdue University.

Dr. Woo earned her Bachelor’s in Economics with highest distinction and honors, Master of Science in Industrial Administration with award as Krannert Scholar and Ph.D. all from Purdue University.

She is married to David E. Bartkus and they have two sons, Ryan and Justin.

Dr. Woo will deliver a keynote at the 2013 Napa Institute Conference.

Her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, New York Post, The Human Life Review, First Things, and Stars and Stripes, and on the websites of the New York Times, CNN, and other international publications.

She writes frequently for a variety of Catholic publications, including Our Sunday Visitor, and is a columnist for The National Catholic Register and the Knights of Columbus’s Headline Bistro.

Commonly known as “K-Lo” on the Internet, on talk radio, and around Washington, Lopez speaks frequently on faith and public life, the dignity of human life, and feminism, among other topics. She has addressed audiences at events sponsored by Legatus, the Knights of Columbus, the American Political Science Association, the Heritage Foundation, the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars, the Milken Institute, Lincoln Center, and the National Press Club, and has spoken on the campuses of Harvard, Yale, the Franciscan University of Steubenville, and Ave Maria University.

She is a graduate of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where she studied philosophy and politics. She has been a fellow at the Claremont Institute and serves on the Archdiocese of New York’s Pro-Life Commission.’

Kathryn Jean Lopez will deliver a keynote at the 2013 Napa Institute Conference.