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Speakers

Bishop David Ricken

Sunday, 10 April 2011 17:39

David Laurin Ricken was born Nov. 9, 1952, to George William “Bill” and Bertha (Davis) Ricken in Dodge City, Kansas. He has an older brother, Mark, and a younger sister, Carol.

He attended Sacred Heart Cathedral Grade School in Dodge City, and St. Francis Seminary High School in Victoria, Kansas. He entered college at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Worthington, Ohio, and graduated from Conception Seminary College in Conception, Missouri, in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. He conducted his theological studies for the Diocese of Pueblo at St. Meinrad School of Theology in Indiana and the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium where he earned his graduate degree in sacred theology and completed his seminary formation.

He was ordained a priest on Sept. 12, 1980, by the Bishop of Pueblo, Arthur Tafoya, at La Junta Catholic Parish in southeast Colorado. His first appointment was as associate pastor to the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Pueblo. Five years later, he was named the administrator of Holy Rosary Parish in Pueblo and vice chancellor of the Diocese.

In 1987, then-Father Ricken attended the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome where he received his Licentiate degree (J.C.L.) in Canon Law (church law) in 1989. Upon returning to the diocese, he was appointed the vocation director and vicar for ministry formation. Three years later, he added diocesan chancellor to his responsibilities as well as assisting in the Diocesan Tribunal. He served in these positions until Oct. 1, 1996, when he was nominated to be an official of the Congregation for the Clergy at the Vatican where he served through December 1999.

On Jan. 6, 2000, he was ordained to the episcopacy for the Diocese of Cheyenne at the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome by His Holiness, Pope John Paul II. The Mass of Welcome to the Diocese of Cheyenne took place on Feb. 11, 2000, in Cheyenne. On Sept. 26, 2001, Bishop Ricken succeeded Bishop Joseph Hart as the seventh leader of the Diocese of Cheyenne.

Pope Benedict XVI named Bishop Ricken the twelfth bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay on July 9, 2008. He was installed as bishop on Aug. 28, 2008, at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Green Bay.

Dr. Mark Miravalle

Monday, 21 March 2011 15:42 Last Updated on Wednesday, 13 July 2011 15:02

Dr. Mark Miravalle, husband, permanent deacon, and father of eight, earned his Sacred Theological Doctorate at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. Dr. Miravalle has been teaching at the Franciscan University of Steubenville since 1986. He is President of the international Catholic movement, Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici (Voice of the People for Mary Mediatrix). Dr. Miravalle is known for his international lectures in Mariology. He has addressed several episcopal conferences, including that of South India, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Costa Rica. In addition, he has served members of the episcopal hierarchy with preliminary investigations for reported apparitions, and has made many conference appearances as well as several television appearances, for example on EWTN and Fox News. He also produces a biweekly Mariology television show for www.airmaria.com.

Fr. Angelo M. Geiger

Monday, 30 May 2011 15:25 Last Updated on Monday, 30 May 2011 18:08

Fr. Angelo M. Geiger was born in Los Angeles in 1962. He joined the Franciscans of the Immaculate in 1986, made his novitiate and profession in the Philippines and did further study both in the United States and Italy. Ordained a priest in 1991 he was assigned to work in the United States, mainly in the New England area as novice master, superior and presently as Regional Superior of the Franciscans of the America in North America. He has been active in the pro-life movement, as director and counselor of Marian associations, while continuing to pursue specialized studies in Mariology and in the Marian dimension of literature, art and key moral issues of the present day. He has published scholarly studies on Mariological themes and on the Marian dimension of the poetry of Fr. Gerard M. Hopkins and G. K. Chesteron in the series Mary at the Foot of the Cross (New Bedford, MA, Academy of the Immaculate, 2000–). He regularly contributes to many popular reviews and blogs, including AirMaria.com.

Fr. Dwight Campbell

Monday, 21 March 2011 22:52 Last Updated on Monday, 21 March 2011 23:19

Fr. Dwight Campbell, S.T.D., is a Chicago native who attended Loyola University for both his undergraduate and law degrees (B.A. ’79, J.D. ‘82). After having worked for four years in central Illinois as an assistant state’s attorney, he entered Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Peoria in 1991. After serving in various parishes for a number of years and teaching in high schools, he was released to pursue studies in Mariology, and in 2009 he earned a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the International Marian Research Institute, located at the Univ. of Dayton, Ohio. His dissertation topic was The Historical Development and Theological Foundations of Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Relation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 2007 he and Fr. Ben Reese, S.T.D. (Cand.) founded a new society for diocesan priests, The Apostles of Jesus Christ, Priest & Victim, and at present they are serving at St. Thomas More Church in Chicago.

Sr. Rosalind Moss

Monday, 21 March 2011 22:06 Last Updated on Monday, 30 May 2011 18:14

Born and raised in a Jewish home, in her adult years Rosalind Moss embraced Jesus as the Messiah of the Jewish people. Her initial conversion took her from a 15-year business career as a successful executive with corporations in New York and California to full-time Evangelical ministry, earning a master's degree in Ministry from Talbot Theological Seminary. A series of events in the summer of 1990 set her on a compelling course to find out if the Catholic Church is in fact the Church Christ established 2,000 years ago. After 18 years of Evangelical Protestantism, she entered the Catholic Church at Easter 1995.

Raymond De Souza

Monday, 30 May 2011 23:52 Last Updated on Thursday, 14 July 2011 02:47

Raymond is a Catholic speaker of international renown. He is the founder and director of Saint Gabriel Communications, Australia’s first international outreach to promote Catholic apologetics. With three programs on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), he reaches out to millions worldwide to “re-evangelize the baptized” (John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope).

He is the program director for Portuguese speaking countries for Human Life International (HLI—www.ProLifeKnights.com) and of the Sacred Heart Legion in the United States. More recently, he has been appointed director of Evangelization and Apologetics Office of the diocese of Winona (MN). In his apostolate, Raymond is greatly helped by his devoted wife, Theresa. Their marriage has been blessed with eight children (www.FamilySingers.net).

Randy Albright

Monday, 21 March 2011 15:47 Last Updated on Monday, 30 May 2011 18:15

Award winning country music songwriter and Catholic recording artist Randy Albright is touring parish communities around the United States with his one hour musical tribute to the Blessed Virgin entitled “A Musical Celebration of Mary.”

This spiritually delivered one hour performance of songs and dialogue have left diverse audiences of all ages with a deeper understanding and greater appreciation of Mary and the role that she plays in the salvation of mankind, bringing people closer to her son.

Adopted into a Polish-American Catholic family as an infant, Randy grew up entertaining in front of disabled veterans and nursing home patients then moved to Nashville at age 20 to pursue a career in songwriting.