Bishop Christensen of Superior to Ordain Five --- in St. Louis

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Five seminarians at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis will be ordained during Mass at St. Francis Xavier (College Church) Parish, Grand and Lindell Boulevards, at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 10.

Dominican Brother Andrew McAlpin, a 2008 graduate of Aquinas Institute, will be ordained to the priesthood for the Order of Preachers (Dominicans).

Four seminarians, including Florissant native Brother Michail Ford, will be ordained transitional deacons.

The other three to be ordained deacons are Dominican Brothers Timothy Combs and Patrick Tobin, and Resurrectionist Brother Eric Wagner.

As transitional deacons they will serve part time in parishes over the next year while they complete their studies for the Roman Catholic priesthood.

Bishop Peter Christensen of Superior, Wis., will be the ordaining prelate.

•  Brother McAlpin, 44, is a native of Minnesota. A U.S. Navy veteran, he worked for nearly nine years at the Honeywell Corp. in Plymouth, Minn. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Catholic studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul in 2001 and was a parish director of religious education in the Archdiocese of Minneapolis-St. Paul before entering the Dominican Order in 2003. He earned a master of divinity degree from Aquinas Institute in 2008. After ordination to the priesthood, he will continue to serve as a teacher of theology, director of educational technology and assistant football and baseball coach at Fenwick (Catholic) High School in River Forest, Ill.
• Brother Combs, 28, a native of Grandview, Mo., graduated from Conception College Seminary in 2003 and studied for the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph before entering the Dominican Order in 2003 and beginning priestly graduate studies at Aquinas Institute in 2004. He has served at St. Clare of Assisi Parish in O’Fallon, Ill., and at Little Flower Parish in Richmond Heights.
• Brother Ford, 42, the Florissant native, earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg in 1993 and worked for 10 years as manager for D.L. Cole and Associates in St. Louis before entering the Dominican Order. While he completes graduate studies at Aquinas Institute, he will continue to serve at St. Justin Martyr Parish in Sunset Hills and as a chaplain for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
• Brother Tobin, 34, is from Virginia. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1997 from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va. He was active in parish life and the Knights of Columbus in Ann Arbor, Michi., while completing studies for a master’s degree and a doctorate in chemistry from the University if Michigan. He entered the Dominican Order in 2003. While completing graduate students at at Aquinas Institute, he will serve at St. Pius V Parish in South St. Louis.
• Brother Wagner, 27, an Illinois native, entered the Congregation for the Resurrection in 2001. He earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Washington University before beginning priestly studies at Aquinas Institute of Theology in 2005. His pastoral ministry assignments have included service as a confirmation catechist and youth ministry assistant in the Diocese of Rockford, Ill., and as a campus ministry intern at Washington University and student chaplain at St. Louis University Hospital.

Aquinas Institute of Theology is sponsored by the Order of Preachers (Dominicans).

Aquinas will graduate 48

Aquinas Institute of Theology will confer graduate degrees and graduate certificates on 48 men and women Friday, May 8, at a 7:30 p.m. commencement at St. Francis Xavier (College Church) Parish, Grand and Lindell boulevards in Midtown St. Louis.

The commencement is open to the public.

Eleven of the 48 graduates will receive a doctor of ministry degree in preaching. Aquinas, sponsored by the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), is the only Catholic institution offering a doctorate in preaching.
The graduates include 43 lay students and five members of religious communities.

Dominican Father Benedict Thomas Viviano, a St. Louis native, will present the commencement address. Father Viviano is professor emeritus at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). He will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters.

Aquinas Institute also will award honorary degrees to Franciscan Sister Mary Antona Ebo, founding member and past president of the National Black Sisters Conference; Dominican Sister Suzanne Noffke, author and scholar in studies of St. Catherine of Siena; and Dr. Carol Williams, former member of the Aquinas Institute board of trustees and an Aquinas graduate. St. Louis Review

St. Louis' previous archbishop, Raymond Burke, formerly Bishop of La Crosse, left St. Louis last year for his new job in the Vatican where he is expected to get a Cardinal's hat at the next consistory. One wonders what pull Bishop Christensen has to get asked to come half way across the country (vertically at least) to have the honor of being the consecrating Bishop, especially of Dominicans.