Archives: Faculty Members

Fr. Chase Hilgenbrinck was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria in 2014. Before entering seminary, Fr. Chase attended Clemson University where he played collegiate soccer while earning degrees in Spanish and international trade. He then went on to play for numerous Chilean soccer leagues over four years before returning to the US to play for the United States Major League Soccer. Since 2020, Fr. Chase has been serving the Diocese as Director of Vocations.

Fr. Jesse is a Dominican priest with the Irish Province of Dominicans. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, he grew up in a Catholic household but lapsed from the faith and lived as an atheist for years. After earning a degree in Global Economics and Organizational Analytics, he experienced a profound reversion to the faith, which eventually led him to the Irish Province of Dominicans, where he was ordained a priest. Fr. Jesse has recently completed a license in Dogmatic and Fundamental Theology from the Angelicum. Since then, he returned to his home country of Trinidad and Tobago while also serving the vocations team for the Irish Dominican Province. Most recently, in 2025, Fr. Jesse was commissioned by the Holy Father to be a Missionary of Mercy. In this role, Fr. Jesse is called to be a more visible sign of God’s mercy and has been given authority to pardon certain sins normally reserved to the Holy See, including those often pertaining to priests. Adding to his ministry, Fr. Jesse has authored his debut book, How to be His: A 33 Day Dedication to Our Eucharistic Jesus, set to be published by Sophia Press in November 2025.

Fr. Nick Adam is a priest in the Diocese of Jackson, MS. He is the youngest of eight children and grew up on the Gulf Coast. Attending the University of Alabama for college, he studied broadcast journalism and after graduation worked as a sports broadcaster. Ordained to the priesthood in 2018, Fr. Adam currently serves as the diocese's Vocations Director and rector at the Cathedral of St. Peter the Apostle.

Father Daniel Hanley is a priest in the Diocese of Arlington where he currently serves as the Coordinator of the Propaedeutic Stage Program at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary. Fr. Hanley spent time as Director of Admissions and also teaching at the North American College in Rome. In his most recent assignment before Mount St. Mary’s, Fr. Hanley served the Committee for Clergy Consecrated Life and Vocations at the USCCB as Associate Director of the Secretariat.

Sr. Miriam James Heidland is a former Division I athlete who had a radical conversion and joined the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT) in 1998. Her story has been featured on EWTN’s The Journey Home, SEEK Conferences, Steubenville Conferences and other outlets.

She holds a master’s degree in theology from the Augustine Institute and speaks extensively on the topics of conversion, authentic love, forgiveness and healing. She is also affiliated with Friends of the Bridegroom and the John Paul II Healing Center in leading healing retreats for priests and religious sisters across the nation.

Sr. Miriam is also one of the hosts of The Abiding Together Podcast. She is the author of multiple books including Behold: A Guided Advent Journal, Restore: A Guided Lent Journal and Loved As I Am.

Father Chuck Dornquast is a priest in the diocese of St. Petersburg, FL. He grew up in rural Zephyrhills, FL and entered seminary right out of high school. He was ordained a priest in 2015 serving his first assignment at St. Lawrence in Tampa where he served as chaplain at the parish school and Tampa Catholic. He was also the chaplain for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team. From 2019-2025 he served as Director of Vocations for the diocese. Fr. Chuck also served as the President for the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors. He is now pastor of St. Lawrence Parish.

Father Carter Griffin is a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC.  Raised Presbyterian, he converted to Catholicism while attending Princeton University.  After graduating in 1994, he served for four years as a line officer in the United States Navy prior to entering the seminary.  He attended Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland for two years of philosophy followed by the North American College in Rome for five years of theology.  Father Griffin was ordained to the priesthood in 2004 and served as priest-secretary for three years before beginning doctoral studies in Rome in 2008.  After completing his doctorate and serving as the parochial vicar of St. Peter’s parish on Capitol Hill, in 2011 he was appointed Director of Priest Vocations for the Archdiocese of Washington and Vice-Rector of St. John Paul II Seminary, where he now serves as Rector. He is the author of Why Celibacy: Reclaiming the Fatherhood of the Priest, published in 2019 by Emmaus Road.

Dr. John Bergsma is Professor of Theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, in Steubenville, Ohio. He holds the M.Div. and Th.M. degrees from Calvin Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and served as a Protestant pastor for four years before entering the Catholic Church in 2001 while pursuing a Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Notre Dame. He specialized in the Old Testament and the Dead Sea Scrolls, graduating with high honors in 2004. His major study of the interpretation of the Year of Jubilee in ancient times is published as The Jubilee from Leviticus to Qumran (Brill Academic, 2007).

Dr. Bergsma’s articles, some co-authored with Dr. Scott Hahn, have appeared in several academic journals as well as Lay Witness, the magazine of Catholics United for the Faith, and he has published many books, A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: Old Testament (Ignatius Press, 2018), Stunned by Scripture: How the Bible Made Me Catholic (Our Sunday Visitor, 2018), Psalm Basics for Catholics (Ave Maria Press, 2018), and Yes! There is a God! And Other Answers to Life’s Big Questions (The Word Among Us, 2017), Bible Basics for Catholics (Ave Maria Press, 2012) and New Testament Basics for Catholics (Ave Maria Press, 2015). He also has a wealth of resources on his website, johnbergsma.com

Additionally, he has appeared as a guest on EWTN’s The Journey Home, Franciscan University Presents, and Relevant Radio’s Drew Mariani Show, and has given presentations internationally through Parousia Media. Twice voted Faculty of the Year by graduating classes of the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Dr. Bergsma is a popular teacher who inspires his students with a love of Scripture. He and his wife Dawn reside with their eight children in Steubenville, Ohio.

Fr. James Dominic Brent, O.P. was born and raised in Michigan. He pursued his undergraduate and graduate studies in Philosophy, and completed his doctorate in Philosophy at Saint Louis University on the epistemic status of Christian beliefs according to Saint Thomas Aquinas. He has articles in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Natural Theology, in the Oxford Handbook of Thomas Aquinas on “God’s Knowledge and Will”, and  in the Oxford Handbook of the Epistemology of Theology on “Thomas Aquinas.” He earned his S.T.L. from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, and taught in the School of Philosophy at The Catholic University of America. He is presently on the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, and frequently gives lectures for the Thomistic Institute.

Dr. Mark Miravalle earned his Sacred Theological Doctorate at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He holds the Saint John Paul II Chair of Mariology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he has been teaching since 1986. He also is a professor at Ave Maria University.

Dr. Miravalle is the founder and senior editor of Ecce Mater Tua, an international journal of Mariology research. He is also president of the International Marian Association, comprised of more than 130 theologians, bishops, clergy, and laity worldwide who seek to promote Marian devotion and doctrine.