2022 Conference

“Father Joseph” – Director of the Association of Marian Helpers Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Father Chris entered the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, the religious community entrusted with spreading the message and devotion of Divine Mercy, as a postulant in July 2006. Prior to that, he received a BS in industrial engineering and an MBA from the University of Michigan. After working several years at a Fortune 500 company, he began his own consulting company in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2000. After answering the Lord’s call, he attended Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, for his philosophy studies and earned his Masters of Divinity from Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut. Over the past several years he has been mentored by the world’s leading experts in Divine Mercy, and he has spoken at over 100 parishes to date. Currently, he lives and works on Eden Hill in Stockbridge, Mass., home of the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy, where he serves as “Fr. Joseph, MIC,” the director of the Association of Marian Helpers.

Dr. Michael Patrick Barber is Professor of Sacred Scripture and Theology at the Augustine Institute Graduate School. He holds a PhD from Fuller Theological Seminary. He is the author of numerous scholarly publications and popular-level works. His most recent books are The Historical Jesus and the Temple: Memory, Methodology, and the Gospel of Matthew (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming), The True Meaning of Christmas: The Birth of Jesus and the Origins of the Season (Augustine Institute / Ignatius Press, 2021), and Salvation: What Every Catholic Should Know (Augustine Institute / Ignatius Press, 2019). He lives in Aurora, CO, with his wife Kimberly and their six children.

Education
Ph. D. Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary (2010)
M.A. Theology, Franciscan University (2001)
B.A. Theology and Philosophy, Azusa Pacific University (1998)

Courses
Pauline Epistles
Jesus and the Gospels
Gospel of Matthew
Apocalyptic Literature
Catholic Epistles

Dr. Edward Sri is a theologian, author and well-known Catholic speaker who appears regularly on EWTN. Each year he speaks to tens of thousands of people from around the world, including clergy, parish leaders, catechists and laity.

He has written several best-selling books, including No Greater Love: A Biblical Walk through Christ’s Passion, Walking with Mary, Who Am I to Judge? – Responding to Relativism with Logic and Love, and Into His Likeness: Be Transformed as a Disciple.

Edward Sri is also the host of the acclaimed film series Symbolon: The Catholic Faith Explained and the presenter of several faith formation film series, including A Biblical Walk through the Mass; Mary: A Biblical Walk with the Blessed Mother; and Follow Me: Meeting Jesus in the Gospel of John.

He is a founding leader with Curtis Martin of FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students), where he currently serves as Sr. Vice President of Apostolic Outreach.

Dr. Sri leads pilgrimages to Rome and the Holy Land each year and is the host of the weekly podcast “All Things Catholic.” He holds a doctorate from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome and is an adjunct professor at the Augustine Institute. He resides with his wife Elizabeth and their eight children in Littleton, Colorado.

Father Smith is a native of Greenville, South Carolina. He was received into the Catholic Church at the age of 13 at St Mary’s. After graduating from Southside High School, he went to Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia. After a year living in Rome studying at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, he entered priestly formation at the Pontifical Roman Major Seminary, the Pope’s personal seminary, for service in the Diocese of Charleston. While there, he obtained a licentiate in dogmatic theology from the Gregorian University and also studied French at the Institut Catholique in Paris. Father Smith was ordained Deacon by Camillo Cardinal Ruini, Papal Vicar for the Diocese of Rome, on 30 October 2004 and Priest by Bishop Robert Baker of Charleston on 23 July 2005.

Father Smith spent two years at St Mary’s, Greenville as Parochial Vicar and then Administrator pro tempore. He then was assigned to St Peter’s, Beaufort and Holy Cross, St Helena’s Island as Parochial Vicar and Administrator pro tempore. He then spent two years at St Francis-by-the-Sea on Hilton Head Island. In all of his parishes, he had primary responsibility for Hispanic Ministry, chaplaincy and teaching in parochial schools, and apostolate to the sick. While in Beaufort and Hilton Head, Father Smith pursued a Master of Business Administration degree at the Citadel.

In 2009, Bishop Guglielmone assigned Father Smith to the University of Navarre in Pamplona, Spain. He defended his doctoral dissertation in dogmatic theology on the thought of twentieth-century French Jesuit Henri De Lubac in June 2012, after which he received the degree of Doctor of Sacred Theology.

Father Smith speaks Spanish, Italian, French and some German. He studied Arabic at Al-Qalam Academy in Granada, Spain; Turkish at the Royal Turkish Language Schools in Istanbul; and Syriac at the Oriental Institute of Oxford University during a sabbatical in 2021. He enjoys reading, kickboxing, and music. He is a member of the Church Music Association of America and contributes regularly to the Chant Café blog. He is also a member of the Catholic Theological Society of America and is a speaker on sacred music, liturgy, theology, and catechesis. In 2013 he was elected to the Society for Catholic Liturgy. In 2014 he was received into the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem as a Chaplain.

On 10 February 2015, Bishop Guglielmone appointed Father Smith the Pastor of Prince of Peace.

After serving nearly eight years as the Pontifical Faculty’s Vice President and Dean, Fr. Thomas Petri was appointed President of the Pontifical Faculty in April 2021.
Fr. Petri was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Madisonville, Kentucky. He initially studied to be a priest for the Diocese of Owensboro and entered Saint Meinrad College Seminary in 1996 before moving to the Pontifical College Josephinum in 1997 where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy. He then received a Baccalaureate of Sacred Theology from the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Chicago in 2002. Entering the Order of Preachers in 2004, Fr. Petri was ordained a priest in 2009. He has a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception and a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from The Catholic University of America. Prior to his appointment as Vice President and Dean of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in 2013, Fr. Petri was an Assistant Professor of Theology at Providence College in Rhode Island. He is a member of the Society of Christian Ethics and the Academy of Catholic Theology. He has published articles in Nova et Vetera and in The National Catholic Bioethics Quaraterly. He is also a contributor to Catholic News Agency and The National Catholic Register. His book, Aquinas and the Theology of the Body: The Thomistic Foundations of John Paul II’s Anthropology, was published by CUA Press in 2016.
In 2012, Fr. Petri was named a clergy-Knight of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. On February 10, 2016, Pope Francis commissioned him a Papal Missionary of Mercy for the duration of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. Then on November 21, 2016, the Holy Father confirmed Fr. Petri’s ministry and faculties as a Missionary of Mercy donec aliter provideatur (i.e., indefinitely or until other provisions are made).