Spiritual Advisory Council

 

Meet Our Spiritual Advisory Council

Bishop Joseph L. Coffey

Bishop Joseph L. Coffey, son of the late Dr. William F. X Coffey, M.D., and Roseanita Schubert Coffey, was born in Rochester, MN, on May 31, 1960. He is the fifth of nine children and the proud uncle of 46 nieces and nephews and 12 great nieces and nephews. He was raised in Philadelphia and is a life-long fan of all the Philly sports teams.

Bishop Coffey graduated from La Salle University in 1982 with a double major in English/French which included a year of study at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France. After college, Bishop Coffey worked as a grade school teacher, a ski instructor in Switzerland, and in the automobile industry in Germany and Belgium for five years.

Heeding a call to the priesthood, he attended St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, PA, and graduated with a Master of Divinity degree (MDiv) and was ordained in 1996 by Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua. He earned a Master of Arts (MA) in Moral Theology, also from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in 2000.

While still in seminary, Father Coffey was given permission by Cardinal Bevilacqua to enter the U.S. Navy Chaplain Candidate Program in May of 1992 with the rank of Ensign. He stayed in the Navy Reserve for the next nine years.

Following ordination in 1996, Bishop Coffey was assigned as an Associate Pastor to St. Katherine of Siena parish in Philadelphia, PA. After five years in parish ministry, he was given permission by Cardinal Bevilacqua for full-time active duty as a Navy Chaplain in September of 2001.

Bishop Coffey’s duty assignments have included: Combat Assault Battalion, Okinawa, Japan; Division Officer and Command Chaplain on board USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73), homeported in Norfolk, VA, with a 6 month deployment to the Arabian Gulf; Command Chaplain at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center, Cape May, NJ; Marine Air Group 39, Camp Pendleton, CA, an assignment that included a seven-month month deployment to Camp Leatherneck, Helmand Provence, Afghanistan; U.S. Navy Recruiting Command, St. Louis, MO; Command Chaplain on USS RONALD REAGAN (CVN 76), home ported in Yokosuka, Japan, with a six-month deployment to the South Pacific Ocean; and his final assignment as Assistant Chief of Staff for Religious Ministry, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, CA.

Bishop Coffey’s military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal with 2 gold stars, the Navy Achievement Medal with 2 gold stars, the Navy Sea Service Medal, the National Defense Medal, the War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the NATO Service Medal, 3 Battle E Ribbons.

Rev. Stephen P. DeLacy

Ordained in 2004, Fr. DeLacy served as parochial vicar of Saints Peter & Paul Parish and as school minister for Archbishop Carroll and Pope John Paul II High Schools before being named to his position as Director of the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Vocation Office in July, 2013. While Director of Vocations he conducted discernment groups, retreats and outreach for men who were discerning God’s call to the priesthood. In 2021 Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez named Fr. DeLacy Vicar of the newly formed Office for Faith Formation with Youth and Young Adults (OFFYYA). He continues to present at a number of retreats, Forty Hours, etc.

Reverend Gerald Dennis Gill

Father Dennis Gill, ordained a priest May 21, 1983 for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is currently the Rector and Pastor of the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul and the Director of the Office for Divine Worship.  He served as a parochial vicar at Nativity of Our Lord Parish, Warminster, and at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, Southampton.  Father Gill completed his graduate studies in the Sacred Liturgy at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC and the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Saint Anselmo in Rome.  After his graduate studies he served a five year term as the Director of Liturgy at the Pontifical North American College in Vatican City State.  He has been and continues as a professor of Sacred Liturgy at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary.  He lectures on the Sacred Liturgy throughout the country and recently published the book, Music in Catholic Liturgy: A Pastoral and Theological Companion to Sing to the Lord. He is currently working on a book, Ars Celebrandi: An Artful and Careful Celebration of the Eucharist, for Hillenbrand Books.

Sisters Of Life

The Sisters of Life are a religious community of women founded in 1991 by John Cardinal O’Connor who take a fourth vow to protect and enhance the sacredness of human life. Immersed in Eucharistic prayer within a vibrant community life, their missions include caring for vulnerable pregnant women and their unborn children; inviting those wounded by abortion into the healing mercy of Jesus; fostering a Culture of Life through evangelization; retreat works; spiritual accompaniment of college students; and upholding the beauty of marriage and family life. (www.sistersoflife.org)

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