Fr. Charles Trullols
Spiritual Director & DC Chaplain
Fr. Charles Trullols
Fr. Charles Trullols is the Spiritual Director and DC Chaplain of the Leonine Forum. He is also Director of the Catholic Information Center, a corporation of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC. Originally from Barcelona, Spain, he graduated from the Barcelona School of Architecture with a bachelors degree in Architecture, then earned a bachelors degree in Theology and a doctoral degree in Canon Law (JCD) from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.
Fr. Trullols was ordained a priest in Rome for the Prelature of Opus Dei in 2006. Following his ordination he was assigned to work in Granada, Spain. In 2008 he moved to the United States and lived in Pittsburgh, South Bend, and Chicago, where he served the pastoral needs of the Prelature. Besides his current role at the Leonine Forum and at the CIC he is also assistant Chaplain at Oakcrest School in Virginia. Fr. Trullols speaks four languages fluently.
Mitch Boersma
Co-Founder & Executive Director
Mitch Boersma
Mitch Boersma is Co-founder and Executive Director of the Leonine Forum. He is also the Chief Operating Officer of the Catholic Information Center (CIC) – an organization committed to making the Catholic Church alive in the hearts and minds of men and women living and working in our nation’s capital. Originally from Colorado, Mitch holds a Bachelors degree in Business from the University of Dallas and a Masters degree in Moral Theology and Ethics from the Catholic University of America. Mitch held research positions at the American Enterprise Institute (Washington, DC) and worked as an independent writer and researcher on several book-length projects. In 2013, Mitch was named one of FOCUS’ (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) 30 under 30 young Catholics, He is a Tertio Millenio Seminar Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, and a graduate of the Summer Seminar on Catholic Social Teaching from the Society of Catholic Social Scientists. His work has appeared in secular and religious news outlets including RealClearReligion, EWTN, Legatus Magazine, Fox News, The Stream, Verily Magazine, and National Review Online, among others. He and his wife Rosie live in Fairfax, VA with their children.
Emma Boyle
Director of Operations
Emma Boyle
Emma Boyle serves as the Leonine Forum’s Director of Operations. She is a proud alumna of the first D.C. Leonine cohort from 2014. Prior to joining the Leonine Forum, Emma served as a student life program director, History department chair, and classroom teacher at Saint John Paul the Great High School, where she was also active as a coach and theatre director. She has extensive experience in creating and implementing curricula, leading pilgrimages, and planning retreats and service opportunities. Emma is a native of Pittsburgh, PA, and a graduate of Christendom College.
Abigail Galván
Director of Development
Abigail “Abi” Galván
Abigail “Abi” Galván serves as the Director of Development of the Leonine Forum and is a proud alumna of its 2021-2022 DC cohort. Abi is passionate about helping nonprofits forge strategic partnerships and achieve sustainable growth. Prior to joining the Leonine Forum, Abi served as Lead Development Officer of the Thomistic Institute, Communications and Program Officer of the Crimsonbridge Foundation, and Development Director of the Religious Freedom Institute. She got her start in fundraising by helping devise and fund the launch of the Bethlehem Museum for Heritage and Culture in the Holy Land. A graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Abi earned her bachelor’s degree in international politics. She serves on the Pastoral Council of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC and is a founding board member of the Gratia Plena Institute, an initiative started by a fellow alum. Originally from Texas, Abi now calls Washington, DC her home.
Cindy Searcy
Director of Strategic Partnerships
Cindy Searcy
Cindy Searcy serves as the Director of Strategic Partnerships to the Leonine Forum and as the Vice President of Development at the Catholic Information Center. She has over a decade of professional experience in nonprofit fundraising with a number of institutions in Washington, DC. Born and raised in Kentucky, Cindy earned her BA in Government with honors from Georgetown University and a Master’s degree in Politics from the Catholic University of America. Cindy is a recipient of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute’s M. Stanton Evans Alumni Award, and is a former Bryce Harlow Fellow. She has contributed articles to The Catholic Thing and Law & Liberty.
Jennifer K. Amster
Events & Communications Manager & NYC First Year Coordinator
Jennifer Monsalve
Jennifer K Monsalve is this year’s NYC Leonine Forum First-Year Coordinator, and a proud fellow from the 2018-2019 cohort. She currently runs retreats and spiritual life programs for college students in Jersey City, NJ. As an undergraduate student, she attended Fordham University and studied International Political Economy and Theology. Thereafter, she earned her Master’s degree from the Pontifica Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, Colombia, while working at the Colombian Bishops Conference. Jennifer has also lived and worked in El Salvador and South Africa. In her spare time, she works with high school students longing to deepen their faith.
Brie Jastrebski
Director of Alumni Engagement & Chicago First Year Coordinator
Brie Jastrebski
Gabrielle Jastrebski is the Global Program Manager of the FEMM Foundation and the lead Educator for FEMM’s international education programs. Prior to FEMM, she worked with the World Youth Alliance (WYA), an organization promoting the dignity of the human person in policy and culture. She has served on the leadership team for Young Catholic Professionals – Chicago Chapter and as a FOCUS Missionary (Fellowship of Catholic University Students). Gabrielle is a Chicago native, and a graduate of the University of Illinois.
Rich Loesing
LA First Year Coordinator
Rich Loesing
Rich Loesing is an attorney and consultant who works as the VP of Advancement at the USC Caruso Catholic Center.. His interests include Catholic apologetics, men’s spiritual fellowship, Notre Dame (and now USC) football, and spending time with his wife, Brenda, and newborn son, Ricky. An alumnus of the University of Notre Dame and the Pepperdine University School of Law, Rich remains active in mentoring and networking with alumni and students from those organizations. He is committed to growing in his faith and surrounding himself with men and women of goodwill. Rich currently resides in Long Beach, California.
Fr. Peter Armenio
Chicago Chaplain
Fr. Peter Armenio
Very Rev. Peter V. Armenio was ordained a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei in 1980 and currently serves as the Vicar of Opus Dei for the Midwest (USA). Fr. Armenio received a doctorate in philosophy from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in 1996. He has served as the chaplain of Lexington Institute, Willows Academy, and Northridge Preparatory High School in the Archdiocese of Chicago and has worked in campus ministry for several years. He has written these books published by MTF: Our Moral Life in Christ (semester, complete course, and college editions), The History of the Church (semester and complete course editions), and The Mystery of Redemption and Christian Discipleship.
Fr. Roger Landry
NYC Chaplain
Fr. Roger Landry
Father Roger Landry works for the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations in New York. Ordained a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1999, he is the former pastor of St. Bernadette Parish (2012-2015) in Fall River and of St. Anthony of Padua Parish (2005-2012) in New Bedford, MA, and the former executive editor of The Anchor, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River (2005-2012). He is an alumnus of Harvard College and the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he did graduate work at the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family. He was an on-site commentator for EWTN’s coverage of the 2013 papal conclave that elected Pope Francis, appears often on various Catholic radio programs, and is national chaplain for Catholic Voices USA. He regularly leads pilgrimages to Rome, the Holy Land, Christian Europe and other sacred destinations and preaches several retreats a year for priests, seminarians, religious and lay faithful. He lectures widely on the thought of Popes Francis, Benedict and John Paul II, especially John Paul II’s theology of the body, writes for many Catholic publications and is the author of the new book Plan of Life: Habits to Help You Grow Closer to God.
Fr. Luke Mata
LA Chaplain
Fr. Luke Mata
Fr. Luke was born in Madrid, Spain in 1966 and is the second child of a family of nine children. His soccer skills and some prayers earned him a scholarship to Bergen Catholic High School in New Jersey. Fr. Luke graduated from Bergen Catholic in 1984 and was admitted into the University of Notre Dame.
After graduating from Notre Dame Fr. Luke worked as the president of Youth Service International while also serving as the United States Coordinator of youth formation for Opus Dei based in New York City. He also served on the organizing committee at the USCCB for the World Youth Day in Denver that would take place in 1993.
Fr. Luke’s theological studies in preparation for the priesthood eventually landed him in Rome, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in theology as well as a Masters in Philosophy at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. In 2006 Fr. Mata was ordained to the priesthood, in Rome, by the Bishop Prelate of Opus Dei, Javier Echevarria. In 2008, also at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, he successfully defended his Doctoral Dissertation and was awarded a PhD in Moral Philosophy.
While working on his PhD in Rome Fr. Luke had the great fortune of working in two Synods of Bishops, one with John Paul II and one with Benedict XVI.
Fr. Luke moved to Los Angeles in 2008 and now serves as the Vicar of Opus Dei for the West based in California. He also continues to preach retreats throughout the United States and devotes as much time as he can to providing spiritual direction to lay people, especially busy professional men and women.
Fr. Arne Panula
Co-Founder (1946-2017)
Fr. Arne Panula
Fr. Arne Panula, 71, a priest of the Prelature of Opus Dei, passed away on July 19, 2017, after struggling for many months with cancer. He is survived by his three sisters, Lynne, Amy, and Pat, their husbands, Wynne, Ralph, and John, and eleven nephews and nieces.
Fr. Panula was born and raised in Duluth, Minnesota. He attended Harvard University where he was on the crew team. After graduating in 1967 with a B.A. in English Literature, he moved to Rome to study theology where he lived with St. Josemaria Escriva, Opus Dei’s founder. He was ordained a priest in 1973 and earned a doctorate in Theology from the University of Navarre, in Pamplona, Spain. After ordination, he served as chaplain of The Heights School in Washington, D.C. in the mid-1970’s, after which he exercised his ministry for many years in Northern California, working with high school and university students. From 1998-2002 he was Vicar of the Prelature of Opus Dei for the United States, in New York.
From 2007 on he was the Director of the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C. where he carried out a rich and fruitful work of spiritual direction. He also expanded the mission of the Center by creating the Leonine Forum to educate men and women early in their careers in the core tenets of the Social Teaching of the Catholic Church.
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