Gathered in assembly at St Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland, nineteen delegates from the U.S. Province of Sulpicians elected Father John C. KEMPER, PSS to be the next Provincial Superior on January 6, 2015. On July 1, 2015 he will succeed the present Provincial Superior, Father Thomas R. ULSHAFER, PSS, who has served in the position since 2008. The Superior General, Father Ronald D. WITHERUP, PSS, was present to approve the election.
Father Kemper, who has served at seminaries and schools of theology in Detroit, Michigan and San Antonio, Texas, is currently the Director of St Mary’s Spiritual Center and Historic Site on Paca Street, in downtown Baltimore. The site is where the Sulpicians opened the first Catholic seminary in the United States in 1791, at the invitation of America’s first bishop, John Carroll.
A priest of the Diocese of Harrisburg, Father Kemper was ordained a priest in 1983 and is known for his work with international priests and his sensitivity to multicultural issues facing the Church in the area of priestly formation. He is an alumnus of Mount St Mary’s Seminary in Emmittsburg, Maryland, a seminary originally founded by the Sulpicians in 1805 under the leadership of Father Jean Dubois, PSS, who later left the Society and operated the seminary independently. He also has a doctorate in pastoral theology from the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, California.
Elected to the Provincial Council to serve as consultors for the next six years (2015-2021) were:
Father Daniel F. MOORE, PSS, First Consultor
Father Richard M. GULA, PSS, Second Consultor
Father Anthony J. Pogorelc, PSS, Third Consultor
Father Hy NGUYEN, PSS, Fourth Consultor
Sulpicians worldwide offer warm congratulations to Father Kemper and the new Provincial Council and wish them every success in their work for the Province.
Father Kemper
The New Provincial Council (l to r): Fathers Nguyen, Moore, Kemper, Gula, and Pogorelc