Here's information about our wonderful speakers:

Bishop Patrick R. Cooney was born in Detroit on March 10, 1934. He was ordained to the priesthood on December 20, 1959, by Bishop Martin J. O’Connor, then rector of the North American College in Rome. From 1977 to 1983 he was the Rector of the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit. In December, 1982, His Holiness Pope John Paul II named him to the episcopacy and he was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Detroit on January 27, 1983, at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament. He served terms on the Board of Directors of Notre Dame Liturgical Center, the Board of Governors of North American College, and on the Board of Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit. He presently serves as a member of the Catholic Relief Services Board. Bishop Cooney was installed as the Third Bishop of the Diocese of Gaylord on January 28, 1990.

Father Thomas J. Loya is currently the pastor of Annunciation of the Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Church in Chicago, IL and the Eastern Catholic spiritual advisor for the Theology of the Body International Alliance. Before entering the seminary he earned a degree and pursued a career in commercial art and design, after which he worked for a Church design firm. He completed his studies for the priesthood in Pennsylvania and Rome and was ordained in 1982. In 1993 he added to his Bachelor of Fine Arts by earning a Masters in Counseling and Human Services. He has worked on the iconography both of his present parish and of St. John's parish in Solon, Ohio. In addition to his duties as a pastor and iconographer, Fr. Loya has served the Church in youth and young adult ministry and as an artist and design consultant. He has directed many retreats and has been a guest speaker at conventions and at World Youth Day 2002.

Dr. Scott Hahn is an exceptionally popular speaker and teacher, Dr. Hahn has delivered numerous talks nationally and internationally on a wide variety of topics talks related to Scripture and the Catholic faith. He is currently a Professor of Theology and Scripture at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he has taught since 1990, and is the founder and director of the Saint Paul Center for Biblical Theology. In 2005, he was appointed as the Pope Benedict XVI Chair of Biblical Theology and Liturgical Proclamation at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Hahn was ordained as a pastor in 1982 at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Fairfax, Virginia. He entered the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil, 1986. Scott Hahn has been married to Kimberly since 1979, and has six children.

Mark P. Shea is a popular Catholic writer and speaker. He is the author of Making Senses Out of Scripture: Reading the Bible as the First Christians Did (Basilica), By What Authority?: An Evangelical Discovers Catholic Tradition (Our Sunday Visitor) and This Is My Body: An Evangelical Discovers the Real Presence (Christendom Press). An awarding-winning columnist, he has contributed many articles to This Rock as well as other Catholic magazines. He is Senior Content Editor for www.CatholicExchange.com and co-authors (with Scott Hahn and Jeff Cavins) the Catholic Scripture Study available at that site. He lives in Washington state with his wife, Janet, and their four sons.

Susan Tassone holds a master’s degree in religious education form Loyola Univeristy of Chicago. Tassone has a great devotion to the Holy Souls suffering in Purgatory and has written many booklets including: Prayers for Eternal Life , Praying in the Presence of Our Lord for the Holy Souls and The Way of the Cross for the Holy Souls in Purgatory among others. Tassone currently works for the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Fr. Donald Libby is associate pastor at Holy Rosary Parish in Cedar, Michigan. Both sets of his grandparents served as missionaires in China, starting hospitals for the sick. Raised a Protestant, he converted the Catholic faith. After years of discernment, he entered seminary and was ordained a priest in 2005. Fr. Libby celebrates the Mass in both ordinary and extraordinary form (Latin).

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