New Rector for St. Anthony’s–Kachebere Major Seminary

Very Rev. Shayne Craig, PSS and Rev. Enoch Kanjira, PSS, Rector of St. Anthony’s Kachebere

Fr. Enoch Eric Kanjira, PSS, was appointed rector of the historical St. Anthony’s Kachebere Major Seminary, Mchinji, Malawi, on July 1, 2024, becoming the third Sulpician to head the prestigious seminary. He took over from Fr. Peter Kwaleyela, PSS, who has been rector for three years and is now pursuing doctoral studies at Maynooth Pontifical University in Ireland. Until his appointment, Fr. Kanjira was formator and Spiritual Director at Emmaus Spirituality Centre in Lusaka, Zambia.

Born on August 27, 1971, in Chiradzulu, Malawi, Fr. Kanjira was ordained for the Archdiocese of Blantyre in Malawi on July 5, 1997. He served in different positions such as Assistant Parish Priest, teacher and bursar, rector, and formator as well as Archbishop’s secretary, Financial Administrator, and Vocations Director in his home diocese before he was appointed rector of Kachebere Major Seminary in 2017. He was the acting rector when the Society of St. Sulpice was requested to manage the philosophical seminary.

After working with the Society of St. Sulpice for a few years, Fr. Kanjira received a vocation within a vocation—to become a Sulpician and commit his life to formation of seminarians and ongoing formation of priests. When he joined the Society as a candidate, he was assigned to Emmaus Spirituality Centre in Lusaka where he has been for three years.

Fr. Kanjira brings significant experience in administration and formation to the seminary. He is a well-organized and meticulous priest, not only in Liturgy, which is his area of specialization, but also in his way of priestly life. He displays confidence in his work and always gives a good example in formation. Fr. Kanjira has a licentiate in Sacred Liturgy from Pontificio Ateneo Sant’Anselmo in Rome. He has also done courses in Formation of Formators to the Priesthood and Consecrated Life at Gregoriana in Rome, Teaching Methodology under the University of Zambia, as well as Diplomatic Practice, Protocol, and Public Relations under the Zambia Institute of Diplomacy and International Relations.

During the smooth handover in July 2024, witnessed by the Regional Superior Fr. Victor Shikaputo, PSS, the incoming rector thanked the Society for giving him the opportunity to serve once again at St. Anthony’s. The Regional Superior congratulated the new rector and thanked Fr. Kwaleyela the outgoing rector for the work and commitment to Kachebere as rector and wished him well as he undertakes the journey for his doctoral studies. Fr. Shikaputo assured both Fathers Kwaleyela and Kanjira of the prayerful support of all the members of the Society.

Upper right: Rev. Victor Shikaputo, PSS, Regional Superior, Very Rev. Shayne Craig, PSS, Superior General, and Very Rev. Daniel F. Moore, PSS, Provincial Superior, on the occasion of Fr. Craig’s first visit to the U.S. Sulpician presence in Central SE Africa.

Below: Rev. Victor Shikaputo, PSS, Regional Superior, Very Rev. Shayne Craig, PSS, Superior General,  Fr. Enoch Eric Kanjira, PSS, and Very Rev. Daniel F. Moore, PSS, Provincial Superior, on the occasion of Fr. Craig’s first visit to the U.S. Sulpician presence in Central SE Africa.

Victor Shikaputo, PSS
Regional Superior

McGivney Propaedeutic House of Formation Welcomes Inaugural Class

Very Rev. Daniel F. Moore, PSS, Archbishop William E. Lori, Rev. Shawn D. Gould, PSS, and Fr. James Yeakel, OSFS, with the inaugural class at the Covenant Mass on August 28, 2024, at St. Mary’s Seminary & University.

In August, McGivney House welcomed eight men from Baltimore, Buffalo, Erie, Scranton, and Wilmington to begin their formation for the priesthood. After Mass and a dinner with their families, we dove into an orientation to seminary life, followed by an opening retreat led by Fr. Ron Witherup, PSS, that invited us to look at the development of our relationship with the Lord through the eyes of St. Paul.

The propaedeutic stage is a leveling-up experience designed to transition the new men from their varied family, educational, work, and religious backgrounds to sharing the basic knowledge, skills, and virtues on which seminary life depends. They all share a love of the Lord and His Church, and they are learning to live with and help each other acclimate to seminary life. We quickly settled into the horarium that structures our days. We begin at 7 a.m. with silent prayer in the chapel followed by Morning Prayer. Except for the apostolate days, the men have class in the morning followed by Mass. Their courses comprise introductions to scripture, the spiritual life, the basics of Catholic doctrine, and the skills of human formation. The afternoons are free for spiritual direction, formation advising, reading, and other activities. We come back together at 5 p.m. for a period of adoration, followed by Evening Prayer and dinner. Some evenings we have conferences on a variety of topics related to life in the Church. In the fall, for example, Fr. Thomas Ulshafer, PSS, gave us a masterful overview of the styles of architecture used and developed by the Church over the course of the centuries. Most days end with Night Prayer at 9 p.m., which starts a period of silence that continues until chapel the next morning.

While the site at Paca Street was being completed, St. Mary’s very graciously hosted us. Then in January we were able to move in.

Archbishop William E. Lori blessed the common area of the new Blessed Michael J. McGivney Propaedeutic House of Formation.

On January 23, Archbishop William E. Lori blessed our new house and the altar for the oratory, accompanied by a number of the confrères, key people involved in the planning and construction of the new house, and representatives of Baltimore and our Seton Hill neighborhood. Mr. Patrick Kelly, the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, also attended the blessing and presented a portrait of our patron, Blessed Fr. Michael McGivney to the House.

Archbishop William E. Lori blessed the Oratory while Rev. James Bors, Pastor of Our Lady of the Chesapeake, Lake Shore, St. Frances, and Riviera Beach, seminarian, Drew Meisel (Archdiocese of Baltimore), and Patrick E. Kelly, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, join in the prayers.

Patrick E. Kelly, Supreme Knight, Knights of Columbus presented a portrait of Blessed Michael J. McGivney to Very Rev. Daniel F. Moore, PSS, Archbishop William E. Lori, and Rev. Shawn D. Gould, PSS, Director of the McGivney House.

The year is moving quickly to its conclusion. We’re looking forward to our capstone experience—a Marian and priestly pilgrimage in France, with a retreat led by Fr. Lawrence B. Terrien, PSS. Please keep us in your prayers!

Shawn D. Gould, PSS
Director, McGivney Propaedeutic House of Formation

Tyler Tate, President of Lewis Contractors, David Gaudreau, Managing Principal of EwingCole, and Gino Gemignani, the Sulpician representative, joined with their colleagues to celebrate the completion of the project.

Bishop Fredrik Hansen Appointed Coadjutor of Oslo, Norway

Rev. Ronald D. Witherup, PSS, Rev. Paul A. Maillet, PSS, Very Rev. Daniel F. Moore, PSS, and Rev. Phillip J. Brown, PSS, with Bishop Fredrik Hansen.

On November 1, 2024, the Solemnity of All Saints, the Holy Father Pope Francis appointed Sulpician confrere Msgr. Fredrik Hansen, PSS (Cand.), JCD as Coadjutor Bishop of Oslo in his native Norway.

Msgr. Hansen had been a candidate for the U.S. Province of the Society of Saint Sulpice since 2022 and was serving as a faculty member and Dean of Seminarians at St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore. Before joining the Sulpicians, Msgr. Hansen, who was ordained a priest in 2007, had served in the Diplomatic Corps of the Holy See, most recently as Secretary and Deputy at the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See at the United Nations in New York.

Fr. Daniel Moore, Provincial Superior, said “It is with mixed emotions that I make this announcement, as it will mean losing a cherished colleague in priestly formation. However, the U.S. Province is honored to know that one of our confreres has been chosen to serve as a Bishop in his home diocese.”

In addition to the Provincial, a contingent of Sulpicians, faculty, and seminarians from St. Mary’s Seminary traveled to Oslo for Msgr. Hansen’s January 18 episcopal ordination.

Rev. Ronald D. Witherup, PSS, Rev. Paul A. Maillet, PSS, Very Rev. Daniel F. Moore, PSS, and Rev. Phillip J. Brown, PSS, along with Seminarians from St. Mary’s Seminary & University with Bishop Fredrik Hansen.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, was the principal co-consecrator at St. Olav’s Cathedral. Bishop Hansen, a well-respected canonist, selected “Lex tua veritas” – “Your law is truth” – as his episcopal motto. He will automatically succeed Bishop Bernt Ivar Eidsvig, CRSA, in leading the increasingly diverse Catholic community within a predominantly Lutheran Norway, when the latter steps down.

Ad multos annos!

New Rector Named at St. Kizito House of Formation

Fr. Eugene Hampande Mwanza, PSS, was named Rector of St. Kizito House of Formation, March 2023, and took up residence in May 2023 while still teaching at St. Dominic’s Major Seminary. He follows Fr. Cornelius Hankomoone, PSS, as rector. Fr. Cornelius has initiated a special Sulpician ongoing formation project in a new parish, St. Cecilia, in the Bbondo in Monze Diocese.

The Society of St. Sulpice runs the house of formation on behalf of Gaborone Diocese in Botswana. While doing formation at St. Kizito seminarians go to study philosophy at St. Bonaventure University College for the Franciscans. The university attracts many candidates from different religious orders and has an international character as there several foreign students studying there.

Fr. Eugene readily accepted the challenge to serve as rector at St. Kizito. Though rector, he continues to teach, adjunct, Church History and Patrology at St. Dominic.

He describes the St. Kizito community as wonderful one comprising four seminarians (three Tswana and one South African) and Fr. Victor Simutonga, PSS, in residence studying at St. Bonaventure’s. The intake will grow to seven next academic year.

The annex expansion at St. Kizito’s by Archbishop Nubuasah, of Gaborone, while Fr. Hankomoone was rector, has provided more accommodations for students and formators. There are, however, some major challenges in the main house

including managing the high electricity bills, maintenance of the buildings, and upgrading the kitchen, and air conditioning the common rooms (TV and study rooms). Fr. Eugene hopes to set up the office for the Rector with a new computer. These initiatives and other needs are part of the rector’s conversations with Archbishop Nubuasah, as St. Kizito is owned by the Diocese of Gaborone in Botswana. Fr. Mwanza has a good working relationship with both the former rector and the archbishop as well as with Fr. Daniel Moore, PSS, Provincial.

Victor C. Shikaputo, PSS
Regional Superior

Fr. Thomas R. Ulshafer, PSS, Retires as General Treasurer of the Society

After many years of service (2016–2023), Fr. Thomas R. Ulshafer, PSS, informed Very Rev. Shayne Craig, PSS, Superior General of The Priests of St. Sulpice, his desire to step down from the position of General Treasurer for the Society.

During his time as Treasurer, significant work has been done regarding investments, to ensure the economic stability of the Generalate. for the instruction, formation, and retirement), as well as to recognize and protect the patrimony, by way of improving the Archives (with projects to improve the physical housing of the Archives, the undertaking of their digitization, the improvement of personnel services, etc.).

Fr. Robert J. Cro, PSS, was nominated and approved as the new General Treasurer effective January 1, 2024. Fr. Cro has a background in Classical Archeology and is an alumnus of St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore. He has a licentiate in Church History from the Pontifical Gregorian University. Currently, Fr. Cro is the Coordinator of Human Formation and Dean of Men at Theological College of The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He is a member of the Province Finance Committee.

At the conclusion of December 2023 General Council meetings in Paris, which included the three provincials, the general treasurer, and his successor, Fr. Daniel Moore, PSS, US Provincial Superior, hosted a celebratory dinner to congratulate Fr. Ulshafer for his many years of service as general treasurer. The US confreres attending the meetings in Paris joined the host and honoree at a well-regarded brasserie chosen for the event. Fr. Robert Cro was also welcomed as the new general treasurer.

Fr. Melvin C. Blanchette, PSS, Receives Papal Honor

Copyright 2023 Catholic Review Media, Baltimore. Used with permission

Throughout decades of priestly ministry to the Church, Fr. Blanchette, a member of the Society of the Priests of St. Sulpice since 1972, is a well-known author, psychologist, and counselor. Fr. Blanchette positively affected and strengthened the ongoing human and spiritual formation of countless priests, religious, and seminarians throughout the United States and Canada.

Whether ministering to seminarians, priests and religious as a seminary formator, spiritual director, mentor, or retreat director, and later as the rector of Theological College, the National Seminary at The Catholic University of America (2007–2011), Fr. Blanchette has been a positive influence on many lives.

Described as a deeply dedicated and thoughtful priest, Fr. Mel commented, “When Archbishop Lori called me with the news, I was deeply honored and humbled to learn that I was chosen by the Holy Father to receive this award. It is such a wonderful feeling to receive this recognition for serving the Holy Father and the Church.”

Fr. Daniel F. Moore, PSS, Provincial, added, “We offer our heartiest congratulations to our confrere as a recipient of the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice medal. We are grateful for Mel’s faithful ministry in initial and ongoing formation and for his dedication to the Society and to the Church. Fr. Moore accompanied Fr. Blanchette at the dinner hosted by Archbishop Lori for the papal honorees at his residence the Friday evening prior the presentation of honors, which were conferred the following morning at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.

Fr. Gladstone H. “Bud” Stevens Appointed Rector of Theological College

At the Theological College opening Mass on August 27, 2024, Fr. Gladstone “Bud” Stevens, PSS, PhD, was installed as the eighteenth rector of Theological College of The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. Cardinal Wilton Gregory, Archbishop of Washington, presided over a Mass, which was honored by 26 concelebrants, among whom were former TC rectors Fr. Lawrence Terrien, PSS, and Fr. Mel Blanchette, PSS. Fr. Ronald Witherup, PSS, attended as Fr. Daniel F. Moore’s provincial representative, given his absence due to his sister’s recent death. Fr. Witherup offered opening remarks and later introduced Fr. Stevens as an excellent, highly qualified candidate for rector to Cardinal Gregory, who confirmed the proceedings.

Fr. Stevens with Cardinal Wilton Gregory

After leading the congregation in the Profession of Faith and pronouncing and signing the Oath of Fidelity as rector, Fr. Stevens offered remarks inspired by a surprise gift he received that morning from his sisters, Pamela Stevens and Dr. Sandra Stevens, who attended the installation. “Pelagianism is the most pernicious of all heresies precisely because it denies the absolute necessity for grace. The gift of a new Liturgy of the Hours from my sisters reminded me that everything in ministry must begin with, be sustained by, and lead to ever deeper prayerful encounters with Christ. The work of priestly formation begins with Christ’s compassion upon the crowd who were like sheep without a shepherd. The whole work of the seminary must be an extension of the Lord’s compassion and His promise that He would send them shepherds.

Fr. Stevens, a priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky, was ordained in 2000, and joined the Sulpicians in 2002. He is a member of the Provincial Council of the Society of St. Sulpice, Province of the United States, and is the First Consultor. A native of Connecticut, he was raised in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated from Quincy College in Illinois in 1989, and earned a doctorate in theology from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1997. His specialization is systematic theology, and he regularly teaches courses on the priesthood, and the Eucharist.

Fr. Stevens has served on the formation and academic faculties of St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, Maryland, and as its academic dean, praeses, and vice rector. He also served on the formation and academic faculties of St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, California and as academic dean, vice rector and rector. He was a member of the committee that composed the Sixth Edition of the Program for Priestly Formation for the United States. He is a highly regarded retreat and convocation leader for priests. He also regularly assists in parishes, celebrating liturgies and giving conferences. He is a chaplain for the Order of Malta.

Fr. Moore and the team of contractors reviewing the progress, and next steps in the construction of The Father McGivney House at Paca Street.

We are in the midst of preparing for the inaugural year of the McGivney House propaedeutic program. As you are doubtless aware, the new PPF 6th Edition calls for an initial year of seminary formation in which the seminarian is introduced to priestly formation and begins to acquire and demonstrate the basic habits of prayer, study, and social life that will enable him both to make a sound discernment regarding his desire to be a priest and to benefit from the subsequent stages of priestly formation.

Although like all seminaries McGivney House helps men develop in all four of the dimensions of priestly formation, our program has a number of distinctive features. First, McGivney House is an intentionally small and close-knit community. We will have two full-time priest-formators, Fr. James Yeakel, OSFS, and me, and a maximum of twelve seminarians. Everyone has their own rooms, of course, but we will be spending a large portion of every week with each other. The closer quarters of propaedeutic daily life will help the men achieve one of the main goals of the propaedeutic, which is to learn how to be more mindful of the needs of their housemates, practice self- control, and serve others.

Second, the human formation dimension of the propaedeutic places significant emphasis on the men becoming more aware of the people and events in their past that have influenced them. They will have weekly, and in the introductory period even daily, sessions devoted to helping them understand and articulate their interior affective movements. They will practice techniques designed to help them manage grief, anger, and fear and to express both criticism and approval in fruitful and respectful ways. They will be encouraged to develop good habits with respect to nutrition and physical health, including learning basic cooking skills, and they will also be assisted in perfecting their basic social skills.

Third, the spiritual dimension of the propaedeutic is both broad and deep. It is broad, insofar as the seminarian will be put in touch with the range of key figures and schools of Catholic spirituality—from the monastics, such as Saints Anthony and Benedict, the Latin Fathers, such as St. Augustine, the mendicants St. Francis and St. Dominic, the Carmelites, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and the French School. It will be deep, insofar as the seminarian will develop his habits of daily liturgical participation, spiritual reading, meditation, and silence. The McGivney House also takes up the PPF’s encouragement to practice pilgrimages by visiting local and regional holy sites. We plan to conclude the year with a Marian pilgrimage in France that will connect the seminarians with powerful witnesses to the faith and connect them with the significant French roots of the American Catholic Church.

The intellectual dimension focuses on providing the new seminarians with a solid foundation in the Catholic faith. It includes the weekly classes in spirituality and human development. It also includes a weekly class introducing them to the reading of the Scriptures, with an emphasis on understanding the arc of salvation history, and a weekly class introducing them to Catholic theological and moral doctrine. The classes are not part of a degree program, are graded pass/fail, and are meant to support the human and spiritual development that is the primary aim of the propaedeutic.

The pastoral dimension of McGivney’s propaedeutic program utilizes initiatives of the Archdiocese of Baltimore to put the seminarians in contact with the urban poor. They will then learn how to reflect theologically on their experiences, support each other, and become more aware both of the needs of others and their own strengths and weaknesses. The seminarians will also learn more about how dioceses work in general and the distinctive history and pastoral needs of their own dioceses.

Shawn D. Gould, PSS, Director
McGivney Propaedeutic House of Formation

Site of the First Roman Catholic Seminary in the United States

The US Sulpician Province announces the establishment of The Blessed Father Michael J. McGivney House, a regional house of propaedeutic formation at St. Mary’s Seminary on Paca Street.

Open the PDF link to read the article published in The Catholic Review.

Copyright © Catholic Review Media, www.catholicreview.org. Used with permission.

U.S. Province of Sulpicians Elects Provincial*

Provincial Superior Rev. Daniel F. Moore, P.S.S.

Meeting at the Center for Continuing Formation of St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland on May 19, 2022, the Provincial Assembly of the Sulpician Province of the USA has elected Daniel F. Moore, P.S.S., as Provincial Superior. The Assembly, which was delayed since 2020 because of the pandemic, will proceed to elect the members of the Provincial Council and attend to other business until Tuesday, May 24^th. Fr. Moore will serve a term of six years starting July 1. He had succeeded as Acting Provincial the late Rev. John C. Kemper, P.S.S., who died unexpectedly in May 2020.

Sulpician Father Daniel F. Moore is a native of Memphis, Tennessee. He is an alumnus of St. Mary’s Seminary & University, Baltimore (1984), and a priest of the Diocese of Memphis. Fr. Moore entered the Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice on July 1, 2000, after serving 16 years as a diocesan priest—notably as a president/principal of a diocesan high school and middle school, a pastor, secretary to presbyteral council, and member of the college of diocesan consultors. He is also an alumnus of the Pontifical Gregorian University (Rome), earning his doctorate at the university in February 2006.

Fr. Moore’s dissertation, “Jesus, An Emerging Jewish Mosaic, Jewish Perspectives, Post-Holocaust,” was well received. As a consequence, he was invited as a presenter at The International Symposium on the Historical Jesus, Second Princeton-Prague Symposium on Jesus in Princeton, New Jersey, on April 21, 2007, at the Princeton Theological Seminary.

Subsequently, his dissertation was published by T & T Clark (Continuum International) in 2008 as Volume 2 in their series, Jewish and Christian Texts in Contexts and Related Studies.

Fr. Moore served as the Sulpician Director of Discernment & Admission, 2009-2018, and concomitantly the Director of Communications, 2012-2016. He also served as the Provincial Secretary of the U.S. Province, 2011-2017. During an earned 2016 sabbatical, he was a Visiting Fellow, Catholic University of Louvain, Faculty of Theology & Religious Studies and a Visiting Scholar, Boston College, School of Theology & Ministry. Prior to his appointment to Baltimore, Fr. Moore served on the formation faculty of Theological College, the National Seminary of The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, 2004-2011, and as an adjunct lecturer at The School of Theology and Religious Studies (CUA), 2005-2008. Administratively, he served as the Vice Rector and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Theological College, 2007-2011.

In the fall of 2017, he rejoined the formation and academic faculty at St. Mary’s, Baltimore, lecturing in systematic theology. In August of 2019, he was appointed Vice-President of Strategic Initiatives. He serves also as one of the Honorary Chairs of the Campaign Executive Committee, St. Mary’s Seminary & University, 21^st Century Capital Campaign, Baltimore, MD. Fr. Moore was elected to the Provincial Council in 2009 as First Consultor, serving two consecutive terms, 2009- 2015 and 2015-2020. On May 1, 2020, upon the resignation of the Provincial, Fr. John Kemper, PSS, due to terminal illness, Fr. Moore assumed the office as the Acting Provincial Superior.

For further information, please contact the Provincial House at (410-323-5070).