About us - CFCA presenters

Rev. James Barnett, O.P.

Rev. James Barnett, O.P. is a Dominican and has been preaching for CFCA since 2009.

Rev. Richard Bayuk, C.PP.S.

Rev. Richard Bayuk, C.PP.S. is a Missionary of the Precious Blood and has been preaching for CFCA since 1996. Ordained in 1975, he has served in a variety of ministries, including parish ministry, hospital chaplaincy, and teaching. Most recently he served his community as Formation Director at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where he also taught part time. Father Bayuk attended seminary at St. John's School of Theology in Collegeville, MN and graduated with a Masters in Liturgy. He also holds a Masters in Counseling from Drake University and a D.Min. in Preaching from Aquinas Institute in St. Louis. In addition to his ministry with CFCA, Father Bayuk is currently on the Leadership Team of his province and also serves as Provincial Treasurer and Director of Communications.

Rev. Jerry Beat

Rev. Jerry Beat is a priest in the Diocese of Wichita, Kan. He was a member of the CFCA board from 1991 to 1999 and has been preaching for CFCA since 2006.

Father Beat worked in the Wichita Diocesan Mission's parishes in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, between 1973 and 1986. While in Venezuela, Father Beat helped CFCA set up one of its first projects in Venezuela. He assisted in setting up sponsorships and worked with some of CFCA’s lay volunteers.

Today, Father Beat is involved in many ministries in Kansas. He is a chaplain at Via Christi Health Systems, St. Joseph Hospital and St. Francis Hospital, all in Wichita. Father Beat also works with the Cursillo Movement, which provides adult education for immigrants from Latin America. In El Dorado, Kansas, he works in the Kairos jail ministry and on some weekends he substitutes in parishes.

In addition to the time he lived in Venezuela, Father Beat has traveled extensively throughout Latin America. He has visited Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Guatemala, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Belize and Mexico.

Rev. Dennis Chriszt,

C.PP.S.

Rev. Dennis Chriszt, C.PP.S. is a Missionary of the Precious Blood. He was ordained in 1982, and served as associate pastor of two parishes in Indiana and Florida before returning to school in 1993.

He served as founding director of Precious Blood Parish Missions, working with members of his community, their sister communities, and associate members - forming teams of preachers to share their spirituality and proclaim God's abundant love with the people of God in parishes throughout North America.

Father Chriszt leads retreats, conducts workshops and invites others to share the blessings of sponsorship with CFCA. He has been preaching for CFCA since 2000.

Rev. Daniel Doyle, S.M.

Rev. Daniel Doyle, S.M., is a Marianist priest and was ordained in 1967. He began preaching for CFCA and Isaiah Parish Missions in 1994. In both of these ministries he has been impressed by the people who sponsor because they are so willing to share their blessings to help empower others.

In addition to working with CFCA and Isaiah, Father Doyle has several other ministries. He has served as a spiritual director, police chaplain and Knights of Columbus chaplain. Most of his ministry has been in secondary education.

Rev. Francis J. Fajella

Rev. Francis J. Fajella, M. S. A. is a member of the Missionaries of the Holy Apostles, a Society of Apostolic Life, founded for the promotion of adult and second career vocations in the Church. He holds degrees in sociology, theology, scripture and canon law. His various assignments have been both administrative and ministerial and include serving as admissions director at Holy Apostles College and Seminary, Director of St. Francis House; a chemical dependency half way house, overseas assignments and domestic parish work including St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.

Father Fajella has been Associated with Villa la Paz in Peru since its inception in 1983. Villa la Paz attends to the needs of abandoned and destitute children.

Rev. G. William Fischer,

O.S.F.S.

Rev. G. William Fischer, O.S.F.S., was ordained a priest in 1969 with the Congregation of the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales. He has served as pastor, hospital chaplain, retreat director, and teacher at secondary and collegiate levels. His education includes a bachelor's in philosophy, master's in theology from the De Sales Hall School of Theology, master's in psychology from Central Michigan University, and a doctorate in philosophy from the Oxford Graduate School.

Father Fischer has been preaching for CFCA since 1994.

Rev. Gerald Flater, O.M.I.

Rev. Gerald Flater, O.M.I., is a Missionary Oblate of Mary Immaculate and was ordained in 1957.  He received his licentiate in sacred theology from Catholic University in 1958. He began preaching with CFCA in 1998 through Isaiah Parish Missions and he continues to preach for Isaiah, CFCA, and his religious community.

During his years as a priest Father Flater has served as a chaplain, pastor and mission speaker. In addition to these ministries he has also served in various functions at the diocesan level including the interim director for the Diocesan Office of Family Life in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Rev. John Fleming

Rev. John Fleming is a priest in the Diocese of Camden, N.J. Father Fleming was ordained in 1961, and since then has served in 16 parishes and schools and in several hospitals and nursing homes as chaplain. He has served as an administrator in several different parishes. Father Fleming retired in November of 2007, but still helps out in several parishes in the Diocese of Camden. He began preaching for CFCA in 1996. He now lives in Hammonton, N.J., and travels occasionally to visit missions and other CFCA projects in Brazil.  He substitutes in several parishes in the Diocese of Camden when he is not traveling on behalf of CFCA.

Rev. Cyrus Gallagher, OFM Cap., is a Capuchin-Franciscan and was ordained a priest in 1965. Father Cyrus has masters degrees in religious education and biological sciences. His ministries have included teaching in college prep high schools, preaching parish missions, preaching retreats to contemplative nuns, religious and diocesan priests, and religious sisters and brothers. He has served as director of marriage and family life in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph (Missouri) and vocation director for the Capuchin Province of Mid-America. Father Cyrus has been preaching for CFCA since 2008.

Rev. John Graden, O.S.F.S., joined the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales in 1964, and was ordained a priest in 1976. His ministries have included teaching high school biology and religion, working in parishes, serving as vocations and formation director for his province, and as director of Word Consultants, a Catholic evangelization ministry. He is currently the director of DeSales Resources and Ministries.

Father Graden’s educational background includes a bachelor's in biology and science education from Niagara University, a master's in divinity from University of St. Michael’s, University of Toronto and a master's in Religious Education from Seattle University.

Father Graden, one of CFCA’s first preachers, has been preaching for CFCA since 1991.

Rev. Vincent Haselhorst

Rev. Vince Haselhorst is a priest in the Diocese of Belleville, Ill., and was ordained in 1957. He has served as an associate pastor in East St. Louis and Belleville, Ill. For six years, Father Vince lived in Guatemala serving as a director of the Belleville Diocesan Mission and pastor of Our Lord of Esquipulas Parish in El Progresso, Guatemala.

In 1970, Father Vince returned to Belleville. From the time he returned to the U.S. until his retirement in 2000, Father Vince served in a variety of ministries in the Belleville diocese. These ministries included being a pastor, serving on the Diocesan Presbyteral Council, dean and member of the Priest Personnel Board. He has also been a member of the College of Consultors for the Diocese of Belleville and assisted in the creation of sister parish relationships for 30 parishes in the Belleville diocese with parishes in Jalapa, Guatemala.

Father Vince has been a member of the CFCA board since 2002 and has been preaching for CFCA since 2000.

Rev. Bob Hasenkamp

Rev. Bob Hasenkamp began preaching for CFCA in August 2008. He is a priest of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. After spending 45 years serving in parishes, both large and small, he retired from ministry in order to have more time to work with the poor.

Father Hasenkamp has been associated with CFCA for the past 20 years through sponsorship. He says, “I have seen some of the good work being done with families and I am happy to be more involved now in this community of compassion for the poor.”

Rev. Peter Hereley, O.P.

Fr. Peter Hereley, O.P. is a native of Chicago, IL. Ordained to the priesthood in 1963 as a member of the Dominican Order, he has served in many capacities. He was the pastor of Holy Rosary Parish in Minneapolis, enjoyed fifteen years in campus ministry at two university campuses (South Dakota State University and Northern Arizona University). He worked in religious radio/ TV as producer for his Dominican Province and as TV host for the Archdiocese of Chicago. More recently, he served in Jerusalem for several years at the Dominican school for the study of Scripture and archaeology, L’ Ècole Biblique, as bursar of the school (Ècole) and as procurator of the Dominican Priory (Sainte Ètienne). Returning to the US, he was elected Prior of St. Thomas Aquinas Priory in River Forest, IL, serving six years in that capacity. Before and after his time in Jerusalem, and up to the present, he has been a regular weekend preacher for CFCA.

Rev. Stan Kennedy, M.S.

Rev. Stan Kennedy is a Missionary of Our Lady of La Salette and has been preaching for CFCA since 1999.

Rev. Jeffrey Kirch, C.PP.S.

Rev. Arthur Kirwin, O.P.

Rev. Arthur Kirwin is a Dominican and has been preaching for CFCA since 1992.

Rev. George Knab, O.M.I.

Rev. George Knab is a priest of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He received a master’s in theology from Oblate College, Washington D.C., where he was ordained a priest on May 31, 1967.

Father Knab has served as a school and hospital chaplain, and was a pastor at parishes in South Carolina, Louisiana, and Miami, Fla. He has been preaching parish missions and renewal programs off and on since 1980. These parish missions include Isaiah Ministries, which he has been affiliated with since 1990.

Since 1990 Father Knab has been affiliated with Isaiah Ministries, a preaching corps in which clergy and laity, men and women, collaborate with one another as a team to conduct parish renewal programs around the country.

“The one-on-one connection contributes to the ongoing transformation of the sponsor while providing the sponsored person with a personal experience of God’s love and providence,” says Father Knab.

Father Knab has been preaching for CFCA since 2003.

Rev. Peter Kohler, M.S.

Rev. Peter Kohler, M.S., is a native of St. Louis, Mo., and has been a professed religious of the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette since 1962. He was ordained in 1968.

Father Kohler has served as a missionary on the island of Madagascar. Father Kohler has also served in many different capacities including mission outreach and awareness, parish administration, and vocation and formation. He has a special love for ministries that work with the poor.

Currently, Father Kohler is in charge of his order’s pre-novitiate formation program in Washington, D.C. Father Kohler has been preaching for CFCA since 1994.

Rev. Samuel Lupico

Rev. Sam Lupico is a priest in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Md., and has been preaching for CFCA since October 2007. Father Lupico was ordained in 1965 and has worked as a pastor and hospital chaplain throughout his priestly life. He taught at St. Mary Seminary and University and also at Loyola College (Md.). He currently serves as a sacramental priest at a parish in Baltimore and is a much sought-after speaker on the speaker circuit of Narcotics Anonymous. Father Lupico also teaches a class on the spirituality of recovery twice a month to recovering men in the inner city.

Father Lupico has degrees from St. Charles College, St. Mary Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary and Rutgers University. “I am a happy priest, filled with fire for the Gospel and for the hope it promises,” he said.

Rev. Don MacKinnon

Rev. Donald MacKinnon, C.Ss.R. has been preaching for CFCA since June 2007. He was ordained in 1959 and throughout his priestly life he has walked with the poor. For 10 years, Father MacKinnon served as mission procurator for the Redemptorist/Western Province and toured the Redemptorist missions in Southeast Asia, the Philippines and Nigeria. Domestically, Father MacKinnon has worked with the people of San Francisco's Hunters Point housing projects, in the fields with migrant workers and now with Laotian refugees in Richmond, Calif.

In addition to his work with Laotian refugees, Father MacKinnon is the Director/Pastor of the Kmhmú-Laotian Pastoral Center and the national representative for Kmhmú-Laotian people to the Committee on Pastoral Care of Migrants & Refugees.  He is the Redemptorists-Denver Social Justice Coordinator, the Superior of the Berkeley Redemptorist Community, and the vice president & social justice chair of a local ecumenical council.

Rev. Bill Martin

Rev. Bill Martin is a priest in the Archdiocese of New York and has been preaching for CFCA since 1996. Father Martin graduated from Holy Cross College and was on active duty in the US Navy. He was ordained at St Patrick's Cathedral in NYC in 1963 he was assigned as a chaplain at New York State prison for women. During that time he was an administrator of a parish in Katonah New York. Subsequently he taught at Stepinac High School for fourteen years and was director of Pre - Cana conferences in the same county. He returned to active military service with the United States Air Force in 1982 until 1995 accumulating a total 22 years in military chaplaincy and eight Meritorious Service Medals. He is happy to be sponsoring seven children and preaching on behalf of CFCA.

Rev. Richard Mauthe

Rev. Richard Mauthe is a priest in the Diocese of Green Bay, Wis., and has been preaching for CFCA since 2001.

Rev. Richard Maynard

Rev. Richard Maynard is a priest in the Diocese of Providence, R.I., and has been preaching for CFCA since 1999.

Msgr. John McClean

Rev. Msgr. John McClean was ordained for the Archdiocese of Dubuque in 1957. During his priestly life, Msgr. McClean served in education from 1957 to 1978, including time as principal of Newman High School. From 1978 to 2002 he was a pastor. He retired in 2002 and began preaching for CFCA in 2003.

Msgr. McClean enjoys working with CFCA because it gives him an opportunity to serve the poor.

He says, “I enjoy enabling people to reach out and enrich another’s life.”  “CFCA is very well organized and very efficiently uses the gifts people entrust to this work.”

Rev. Jerry Morgan

Rev. Jerry Morgan is a priest in the Diocese of Salina, Kan., and has been preaching for CFCA since 1995.

Rev. Charles Muwonge

Rev. Charles Muwonge, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kampala, Uganda, said that he travels on behalf of our sponsored children and aging friends because he gets to see the face of the Church.  “My ministry as priest and preacher for CFCA has enabled me to experience Jesus in a special way,” Father Muwonge said. “My background working in the developing countries exposed me to the plight of the poor that is the face of the suffering Christ. And now my stay in the U.S. and work with CFCA gives me a glimpse into the generosity of Jesus working in each and every sponsor who reaches out to embrace one of these poor children of God.”

Father Muwonge was ordained in 1993 and has been speaking on behalf of CFCA since 2003. He has served as a pastor and chaplain. Currently he is serving as a chaplain at a school in Michigan while working on his doctorate degree in Educational Leadership.

Rev. William Nordenbrock,

C.PP.S.

Rev. William Nordenbrock, C.PP.S., is a Missionary of the Precious Blood and has been preaching for CFCA since 1999.

Rev. James O'Toole

Rev. James O’Toole is a priest of the Diocese of Fort Worth. He entered the seminary in 1955 and was ordained in 1964 as a priest of the Diocese of Dallas-Fort Worth. He served in the Dallas-Fort Worth Diocese for four years and then joined the Air Force as a chaplain. He served in that capacity for 21 years and spent time at bases in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. While in the Air Force, he attended the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., where he graduated with a master’s degree.

After retiring from his work as a chaplain in the Air Force, he spent several months while on sabbatical working in Calcutta, India, with the Missionaries of Charity in Mother Teresa’s home for the dying. It was there that he was deeply touched. “I did nothing for those people in the home compared to what they did for me,” Father O’Toole said. Through this personal contact, Father O’Toole said, he realized that “I have understood the Scriptures with my head, and now I understand them with my heart.” Father O’Toole’s next stop after the Air Force was back to Ft. Worth where he served as a pastor for 12 years before deciding to retire.

Father O’Toole began working with CFCA in 2003 after retiring from parish work.  In addition to working with CFCA, Father O’Toole lives part-time in Guatemala where he assists the pastoral staff at the parish of San Lucas Toliman, and he volunteers at CFCA's Hermano Pedro Project.

Rev. Roger Plante, M.S.

Rev. Roger Plante was ordained in 1961 as a La Salette Missionary. He has a licentiate in sacred theology (STL) from the Angelicum in Rome and a master’s in guidance and psychology from Assumption College in Worcester, Mass. 

His ministries during 46 years of priesthood were varied, challenging and life-giving. They included being headmaster of a private boarding school for 140 boys in New Hampshire and organizing a food co-op for low-income people called FOOD (Friends Organization for Ongoing Development). Father Plante was pastor of the La Salette Shrine in Attleboro, Mass., and currently serves as the director of the Missionaries of LaSalette’s Retreat Center.

Father Plante has been preaching for CFCA since 1996. 

Rev. Thomas Singer

Rev. Tom Singer is a priest of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate and was ordained in 1957. He has served in various roles in the Oblates including Provincial Mission Secretary, Personnel Director for the Central U.S. Province and on the Oblate General Council in Rome, Italy. During his time on the General Council and as Mission Secretary, Father Singer traveled extensively throughout Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe. His education includes degrees from Spring Hill College, University of St. Thomas and a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Father Singer is semi-retired, but he continues to serve as spiritual director for several people and conduct retreats. He has been preaching for CFCA since June 2007, because, as he says, “Of all the organizations I know, I believe CFCA is one of the most personal and effective in making a real difference in the lives of needy children and elderly. Plus CFCA has a sterling record of stewardship.”

Rev. Stephen Smith, O.P.

Rev. Stephen Smith, O.P., is a Dominican Friar, and was ordained a priest in June 1958. Father Smith has a canon law degree from Propaganda University in Rome. He was posted as a foreign missionary in Pakistan from 1962 to 1982 with diplomatic involvement with the Vatican Embassy for a few years, parochial ministry and program director for Catholic Relief Services.

He returned to the United States in June 1982 and has been involved with parochial ministry in places including Atlanta, Ga., Elizabethton, Tenn., and Raleigh/Cary, N.C. Father Smith currently serves as vicar for priests in the Diocese of Raleigh.

Father Smith has been preaching for CFCA since 2002.

Rev. Richard Tillman

Rev. Richard Tillman is a priest in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Mo., and has been preaching for CFCA since 2006.

Jim & Joanne Rogers

Jim and Joanne have been speaking in Roman Catholic Churches on behalf of children, youth and elderly in CFCA’s program of sponsorship since 1994. Jim and Joanne began advocating for CFCA after they traveled to Guatemala on a CFCA mission awareness trip. When they returned they asked their pastor if he would speak on behalf of CFCA. He suggested that they tell the congregation about their experiences – and they did – and have continued speaking in Catholic churches in the Pacific Northwest ever since.

Jim is a retired high school physics and math teacher, while Joanne left the teaching profession to devote herself to raising their seven children. They are currently enjoying their 10 grandchildren. In their own parish, they are active members of the St. Vincent de Paul Society and Knights of Columbus. Joanne also takes Communion to the sick in a local hospital.

Rev. David Draim, O.S.B.

Rev. James Maurice "David" Draim, O.S.B., who had been a CFCA presenter for seven years, died in an automobile accident Jan. 23, 2007 in rural North Carolina. 

Father Draim was a Benedictine monk. Along with preaching for CFCA, Father Draim was parochial vicar of St. James Church in Hamlet, N.C., and Sacred Heart Church in Wadesboro, N.C. A major portion of his ministry was spent serving the ever-growing Hispanic population in North Carolina. He established the Hispanic Center in Ellerbe, N.C., where English as a Second Language is taught and the GED is offered to Hispanics, as well as courses in computer skills. He also operated a Food Program for the poor in his parish, which distributed around 1,000 pounds of food per week.

Father Draim had a bachelor's from St. Meinrad Seminary, a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Indiana University, and a master’s Degree in Biblical studies at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley.

"Father Draim was a gifted preacher who had a deep connection with the people he served at St. James Parish and the children, youth and aging people in the CFCA program of sponsorship," said Paco Wertin, CFCA's chief executive officer. "His dedication to the poor both in his community and around the world is an inspiration to us. The simplicity, generosity and genuineness with which Father Draim lived his life is a model for us all."