Speakers

B.A., Pontifical College Josephinum
S.T.B., University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary
S.T.L., Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception
S.T.D., The Catholic University of America

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 BioethicsQuaraterly. 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).

B.S. in Corporate Finance, summa cum laudeUniversity of Alaba

Tuscaloosa1980

Masters of Business Administration (MBA) University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa 1981

One year of Ph.D. work in Finance Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 1988-89

• Founder/President; Bible Christian Society; an apologetics and evangelization apostolate that reaches hundreds of thousands each year in all 50 states and throughout the world with the truths of the Catholic Faith.

1996 – Present 

• Author, Blue Collar Apologetics: How to Explain and Defend Catholic Teaching Using Common Sense, Simple Logic, and the Bible; EWTN Publishing/Sophia Press
• Former Host; “EWTN Open Line”, a live, nationally-telecast, call-in radio program of Bible apologetics on the EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network.  

2003 – 2020

• Director of the Office of Evangelization; Diocese of Birmingham.

2009 – Present

Additional Info

In the last 25+ years I have given talks at hundreds of parishes and conferences in the United States and Canada.  The conferences at which I’ve spoken include: Defending the Faith Conference (Franciscan University of Steubenville), Santa Fe Archdiocesan Evangelization Conference, Annual Catechetical Conference (Diocese of Nashville), Annual Men’s Conference (Worcester, MA), Fullness of Truth Conference (Corpus Christi, TX), National Catholic Home-Schooling Conference (Baltimore), Ignited By Truth Conference (Raleigh, NC), Napa Valley Catholic Conference (Napa, CA), and more.

Millions of audio copies of my talks have been distributed in the last several years, and my e-newsletter, “Apologetics for the Masses,” is sent every couple of weeks to about 50,000 subscribers in all 50 states and more than 80 countries.

Have had two seasons of my mini-series called “Blue Collar Apologetics,” aired on EWTN television.

Married 28 yrs. to Janel; three sons, Brennan, Ethan, and Noah, and one daughter, McKenna.

He received his BA in History from Stanford University in 1990. He came from an evangelical Christian background and became a member of the Catholic Church in 1991.

After college, he worked as a high school history teacher, drama director, and baseball coach. He then spent a year as a professional actor in Chicago before entering the religious Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ in 1993. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 2003 and earned his doctorate in moral theology in 2010. He has taught moral theology at various ecclesiastical institutions at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

He provided spiritual support on the set of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ while researching the 2005 Catholic best seller, Inside the Passion, the only authorized, behind-the-scenes explanation of the film.

Fr. John has contributed news commentary regarding religious issues on NBC, CNN, Fox, and the BBC. He also served as the English-language press liaison for the Vatican¹s 2005 Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist.

His most widely known books are “The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer” and “60 Days to Becoming a Missionary Disciple“.

In 2016 he published a series of meditation books delving into the spiritual values behind the natural world: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter Meditations. A compilation of his many online answers to questions about spiritual life was published in book form called, Answers: Catholic Advice for Your Spiritual Questions. Dynamic Catholic approached him to write a book on prayer in 2017 called, A Quiet Place: How Daily Prayer Can Change Your Life.

His most recent book is Spiritual But Not Religious; The Search for Meaning in a Material World.

He has also written three Regnum Christi Essays: “Sharpening Your Tongue: An RC Essay on Charity in Our Words,” “What Is Regnum Christi? An RC Essay the Statutes of the Regnum Christi Federation and the Rule of Life for Lay Members,”, and “Our Formation Pathway: An RC Essay on Integral Formation and the Journey to Christian Maturity.”

His series of Do-It-Yourself online Catholic Retreat Guides are available in multiple formats at RCSpirituality.org.

On March 30, 2020, he was named to the North American Territorial Council for the Legionaries of Christ. March 21, 2023, he was appointed for a second term on the council and was appointed as the new Territorial Vicar.

Fr. John currently resides in Atlanta, where he is serving as a member of the Legionary Territorial Council.

Jim Wahlberg aims to serve God by writing, speaking, filmmaking, and serving our community. James serves as the executive director of the Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation, which was created to improve the quality of life for inner-city youth through a working partnership with other youth organizations. 

James Wahlberg is a producer, writer, and director of films, and he uses his talents and experiences to raise awareness about opioid addiction and point to the hope found in Christ. 

He is the author of The Big Hustle and Executive Producer of the number one documentary film, across all genres, of 2022, “Mother Teresa: No Great Love.” 

James has been married to his lovely wife, Benny, for 30 years, and they have three children.

Brother of Mark Wahlberg and Donnie Wahlberg.

Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, a prominent Marian priest, exhibits an unmistakable zeal for the priesthood and devotion to Our Lady. He is a well-known conference speaker on Divine Mercy and the Blessed Virgin Mary. He speaks passionately about these topics in his moving conversion story. He is the editor of two books: The Virgin Mary and Theology of the Body and The Immaculate Conception in the Life of the Church. He has also authored eight books: Purest of All Lilies: The Virgin Mary in the Spirituality of St. Faustina, No Turning Back: A Witness to Mercy, Under the Mantle: Marian Thoughts from a 21st Century Priest, Marian Gems: Daily Wisdom on Our Lady, Mary of Nazareth: The Life of Our Lady in Pictures, Rosary Gems: Daily Wisdom on the Holy Rosary, and Champions of the Rosary: The History and Heroes of a Spiritual Weapon, Consecration to St. Joseph.

Fr. Donald H. Calloway, MIC, a convert to Catholicism, is a member of the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception. Before his conversion to Catholicism, he was a high school dropout who had been kicked out of a foreign country, institutionalized twice, and thrown in jail multiple times.

After his radical conversion, he earned a B.A. in Philosophy and Theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, M.Div. and S.T.B. degrees from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, and an S.T.L. in Mariology from the International Marian Research Institute in Dayton, Ohio.