October 19, 2007

Saint Meinrad president-rector to step down in 2008

Criterion staff report

Benedictine Father Mark O’Keefe announced this month that he would step down as president-rector of Saint Meinrad School of Theology in St. Meinrad at the end of the current school year. He has held the position since May 1996.

Father Mark’s tenure will end on June 1, 2008.

“I am in my 12th year as president-rector. I believe that I am already the senior rector of a freestanding theologate in the United States,” said Father Mark in an Oct. 5 press release. “Even when things are going well, eventually the time comes for new leadership.”

A search for Father Mark’s successor will be initiated by the school’s board of trustees.

The School of Theology is a ministry of Saint Meinrad Archabbey. The board is expected to make a recommendation to the monastery’s archabbot at its meeting next February.

The school’s bylaws require that the president-rector be a monk of Saint Meinrad Archabbey.

Under Father Mark’s leadership, the School of Theology has increased its enrollment, begun a two-year ­

pre-theology program leading to a master of Catholic Philosophical Studies degree, added a permanent deacon formation program, established the Institute for Priests and Presbyterates, and undergone several extensive renovations.

Father Mark attended Saint Meinrad College, earning a bachelor’s degree in history in 1978. He professed vows as a Benedictine monk in 1979 and began his studies for the priesthood at Saint Meinrad School of Theology. He was ordained in 1983. An educator and a moral theologian, Father Mark holds a doctorate in sacred theology in moral theology from The Catholic University of America in Washington.

Father Mark taught moral theology in the School of Theology and served as academic dean and associate academic dean before being appointed president-rector in 1996. He also is a consultant on medical ethics issues.

He is the author of several books on the priesthood and moral theology, and is a frequent speaker at gatherings of bishops, priests, seminarians and parish groups. †

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