Inpiring CTU Alumni Stories

Oscar Romero Scholar Luz Eugenia Alvarez is an Associate Director of the Instituto de Liderazgo Pastoral at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake, where she teaches and directs formation programs preparing Latin@ lay ministers for service in the Archdiocese of Chicago and other Dioceses. She is also an adjunct faculty at Dominican University where teaches a Latin@ Theology course and has facilitated theological reflection at CTU. While completing her MDiv at CTU, Luz served as a volunteer every Friday at the Broadview Detention Center, helping families of loved ones who were being deported.

Mary Amore has served the church in an extraordinary way as the Executive Director of Mayslake Ministries, a Center for Christian Spirituality in the greater Chicago area. Mary herself embodies the kind of thoughtful and dedicated commitment to the mission of the church that her programs have helped instill in thousands of participants in her program. An engaging presenter, Mary has also proclaimed the gospel through her frequent appearances on satellite radio and cable television.

In July of 2020, we were devastated to learn that Sam Bowns had passed away.  We join all those who knew Sam in mourning the loss of a beloved CTU Community member. 

A familiar face at CTU from her time in the Development Office, Sam Bowns devoted her energy in her final years to activism for the ordination of Women Deacons. She held a leadership role for the Congregation of St. Joseph in Cleveland, preached at multiple parishes throughout the Midwest and co-facilitated a retreat in San Francisco on “Women’s Restoration to the Diaconate,” the second of its kind. Her work and journey have been featured in the National Catholic Reporter, CatholicWomenPreach.com and on PBS.

Gioacchino is a prime example of CTU’s strong commitment to the church’s universal mission. His interest in mission is not simply academic but is combined with a strong, practical commitment to service. After receiving his MA at CTU, Gioacchino completed the doctorate in missiology at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome. Before that he worked for several years at the Casa del Migrante en Tijuana on the Mexico/US border. He currently teaches in the Pastoral theology and Human Mobility at the Pontifical Urbaniana University and directs Casa Scalabrini 634, a center that practices the culture of welcoming and integration among refugees, migrants and native Italians.

CTU graduate Fr. James Cassidy, after 15 years of ministering within the AIDS community in the Twin Cities, founded Arm In Arm In Africa (AIAIA) in 2000 as part of his ongoing response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. His focus became South Africa, the epicenter of the world’s AIDS crisis, and a nation that continues to struggle with the ongoing effect of HIV. Fr. Cassidy continues as president of AIAIA, a non-profit which continues to provide yearly delegations to South Africa. In addition to a 35-year career in providing hospice care, Fr. Cassidy remains a member of the pastoral staff at St. Joan of Arc, one of the larger, welcoming Catholic communities in the Twin Cities.

A Nebraska native, Emily was drawn into ministry while serving as a youth mentor with Incarnate Word Missionaries in Chimbote, Peru, where she became captivated by the power of parishes as agents of community development. The incarceration experience of her husband, as well as her exposure to reconciliation and restorative justice through studies and practicum at CTU deepened and clarified her calling. Since 2017, Emily has worked at Kolbe House, the jail ministry of the Archdiocese of Chicago, where she practices and teaches the relationship-centered values of restorative justice through family ministry, parish outreach, and volunteer formation.

Dr. Jerry Galipeau serves as Executive Director of Mission Integration for three Catholic hospitals in Connecticut, including Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford, which was just named one of the 100 best hospitals in the United States by IBM Watson. He served as Vice President and Chief Publishing Officer at J.S. Paluch Company and its music and liturgy division, World Library Publications. He also served as Director of Liturgy and Music at parishes in Florida and Illinois. Jerry is an author and presents widely on the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, liturgical spirituality, and adult spiritual formation. He is a past chair of the Board of Directors of the North American Forum on the Catechumenate.

Edwina had extensive ministry experience even before she began her Master of Pastoral Studies degree from CTU. She served as a lay missionary in Africa and upon her return to England she founded the Volunteer Missionary Movement, sending many others to be with the people in Africa. After her graduation from CTU she founded Genesis House in Chicago. Edwina has written extensively and is in demand as a speaker for her passionate commitment to the gospel and for serve to the poor.

Bill Huebsch is an author, theologian, former director of religious education, farmer, and long-time Catholic publishing professional. He is founder of PastoralPlanning.com and past president of Twenty-Third Publications. Bill writes and teaches extensively on the catechetical mission of the Church and on the importance of continuing to implement the vision of the Second Vatican Council. Bill served as a diocesan administrator for many years in Minnesota, later serving as Director of Religious Education in a suburban Minneapolis parish.

Shaped initially as a parish organist, Dr. Patricia Hughes has ministered in the Church for over forty years. Currently the Director of the Office of Worship for the Diocese of Dallas and an adjunct professor in the Neuhoff Graduate School of Ministry at the University of Dallas, Dr. Hughes has served in similar roles in Louisville, Kentucky and Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 2017 she authored Celebrating Sunday for Catholic Families, keynoted the National Gathering on Christian Initiation in 2018, and has a regular column for Pastoral Liturgy magazine.

Mercy sister, Noel Keller completed her studies at CTU concentrating on Scripture and went to earn a doctorate. In that capacity she has served as the leader and driving force of the Scripture Institute at Misericordia University in Dallas, Pennsylvania since its inception. The institute brings together biblical faculty from across the country and offers courses to priests, religious and laity. Over the course of the years, Noel’s dedicated work has brought the beauty of the Scriptures to thousands.

Leocadie is a lay consecrated woman in the Teresian Institute founded by Saint Pedro Poveda in Spain in 1914 and a Congolese native. She completed her Masters in Theological Ethics at CTU and is now PhD candidate at Boston College in theological ethics. She brings to her studies an exceptional experience as a community organizer in her home country and has been a leading protector of women threatened with rape as a weapon of war and an exponent of the political rights of women in Africa.

Upon graduation from CTU, Julia began as a research and program specialist for the Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs at the US Conference of Catholic Bishops where she worked on key initiatives for the bishops, including assisting the Vatican Accredited Media Personnel for Pope Francis’s apostolic visit to the United States. and a 50th Anniversary of Nostra Aetate Conference at the Catholic University of America. A seminary alumna of prestigious Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics, she is now designing and implementing Holocaust education programming in her new position with the Programs on Ethics, Religion, and the Holocaust at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Julia is also pursuing her ThD at La Salle University in Philadelphia.

Originally from Indianapolis, Sherry worked under Cardinal Bernadin while studying at CTU. After graduation, Sherry was prepared and sent as a lay missionary for Arua Catholic Diocese in Uganda by Edwina Gately’s Volunteer Missionary Movement. Though her intention was a two-year commitment, she is now in her 28th year—serving as a consultant to what is now fully Ugandan leadership. Sherry’s ministry in Arua has included teaching, adapting texts for training centers, building a pastoral center and founding a diocesan radio.

In August 2019, Sherry’s work was featured in an article in America Magazine.

Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration, Sr. Kathleen Mitchell, is Associate Dean of Formation, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology and Associate Director of the Teaching Parish Program at Mundelein Seminary. Sr. Kathleen has ministered in teaching, faith formation, young adult ministry, vocation ministry and ministry with media. She has a BA in History and Communications from Emmanuel University in Boston, MA; and an MEd from Loyola University in Chicago. Sr. Kathleen enjoys working with persons of other cultures and feels she is the best of herself when ministering in settings that mirror the Catholic Church and the world in all its diversity.

Jay earned degrees from Azusa Pacific University, Fuller Theological Seminary, and Northern Seminary before earning a Masters in Theology from CTU in Interreligious Dialogue specifically in Islamic Studies. He served in multiple Southern California parishes before joining First Presbyterian Church of Wheaton in 2004 as Pastor of Congregational Ministries. Jay has been on staff at Chicago Presbytery as the Muslim Relation Coordinator in reaching out to the Islamic community, and is currently the moderator of the Ecumenical and Interreligious Work Group.

Michael Poradek currently serves as the Director of the Office of Divine Worship for the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Since 2015 he has served as the first lay principal Master of Ceremonies for the Diocese and teaches as an Adjunct Instructor at Silver Lake College of the Holy Family in Manitowoc. Michael serves as the national Vice-Chair and Region VII (Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana) Representative for the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions. His ongoing research focus is leadership formation for rural Catholic parishes.

A member of the Divine Word Missionaries, Gary Riebe-Estrella was one of the first graduates from CTU. He went on to a leadership role, serving as the president of ACHTUS (the Academy of Hispanic Theologians) twice, first in 1996-97 and again in 2009-10. He served as the Vice President and Academic Dean of CTU for twelve years. Gary’s activism and his early experiences in pastoral ministry with Latin@ communities has brought him the opportunities to work with many religious orders and organizations as a diversity consultant. His publications in the area of Latin@ theologies and ministries are numerous, and establish Gary’s place as one of the first CTU religious alums to make a mark in Latin@ theologies and ministries.

After graduation from CTU and their wedding, Josh and Ellen headed to Kentucky to work within a new model of Church leadership. They are co-directors of a small rural parish, working to respond to the needs of the community in the absence of a priest. They offer the church as a whole a hopeful vision of how community is formed and missions its love back out to the rest of the world. They are redefining what we mean by lay leadership in the church.

Barbara and her late husband Norman assumed leadership of the Catholic Biblical Studies program in Buffalo, New York in 1991 and expanded it to multiple sites in parishes all over western New York State. Barb has enriched parishes with her knowledge of Scripture as well as her abilities to organize and present scripture-based programs in a variety of settings with excellent speakers and presenters, many from CTU. Barb took the knowledge of Scripture that she learned at CTU and shared it with people in her community. She helped to train others to do the same. Thus she has instilled a love and understanding for the Word of God thus fulfilling Christ’s command to go out and preach the gospel.

Winner of the Bishop Quarter Award for Vicariate VI, Glenda Spearman is a chaplain at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago. She coordinates ministry to Catholic patients and families, supervises the ministers of care, and is actively involved in the National Association of Catholic Chaplains. Her welcoming presence to patients, visitors and staff are often accompanied by a gentle embrace and sign of peace. She is a woman of deep faith whose ministry incarnates the healing, compassionate, merciful presence of Jesus.

Mary Ann Spina’s dedication to her parish and to the various ministries and organizations that she has been a part of, including her work with Faith in Action in Lake County, is inspiring to witness. Her M.Div. degree from CTU shaped and encouraged her strong pastoral sense. She found great joy in journeying with those coming to the faith through RCIA and encouraged others to become involved in parish ministry and in social justice activities.

Sr. Fran’s doctoral work was related to rekindling the founding charism of her religious community. She currently serves as a spiritual director, facilitator and psychotherapist in Chicago. She also runs spiritual companioning groups at St. Peter’s in the Loop. Sr. Fran reflects the mission of CTU in her commitment to the mental and spiritual health of religious and lay people and to her vocation in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council.

Sr. Clara Ternes held degrees from St. John’s Hospital School of Nursing, Saint Louis University, and CTU. As a dedicated medical professional for almost 60 years, Sr. Clara ministered in Pastoral Care at a variety of Illinois hospitals, taught at the Institute of Religion in Houston and Texas Woman’s University, and then served for 19 years as Vice President of Mission, Values and Ethics for the Southern Illinois Health Systems in Carbondale, Illinois. She was professed for 72 years as an Adorer of the Blood of Christ.

Rev. Dr. Michael Trainor AM studies models of learning and leadership from the earliest households of Jesus followers and offers an ecological interpretation of the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. He teaches at the Adelaide Campus of the Australian Catholic University, Adelaide, with academic teaching status with Flinders University, South Australia. Michael is Board member of the International Council of Christians and Jews; Chair of the Australian Council of Christians and Jews, co-chair of the South Australian Council of Christians and Jews; and co-chair of the South Australian Uniting Church and Roman Catholic Dialogue. He is also pastor of the parish of Lockleys, South Australia.