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NEW U.S. PROVINCIAL AND TWO COUNCILORS NAMED |
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Fr. Louis Lougen, OMI, currently the Director of Novices in Godfrey, IL, has been named by the Superior General and the General Council as the next provincial superior of the United States Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Also named as at-large Provincial Councilors are Fr. William Morell, OMI, and Fr. William O'Donnell, OMI. Other members of the new Provincial Council will be named after the first of 2005. The new administration will take office in mid-February, 2005.
The new administration team will assume their ministry of administration from the capable hands of their predecessors, Fr. David Kalert, OMI, Provincial, as well as Fr. Charles Banks, OMI, and Fr. David Ullrich, OMI.
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| Provincial-designate Fr. Louis Lougen, OMI | Provincial Councilor-designate Fr. William Morell, OMI | Provincial Councilor-designate Fr. William O'Donnell, OMI | ||
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Getting to know the new administration... |
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FR. LOUIS LOUGEN, OMI
Fr. Louis (Louie) Lougen comes to his new position as provincial with a background of missionary, pastoral, and formation experience. A native of Buffalo, NY, he is the son of Louise and the late James Lougen. He was born on September 28, 1952. Fr. Louie came to know the Oblates when he attended Bishop Neumann High School in the Buffalo area, a school staffed by the Oblates.
The autumn after his graduation from high school, he entered Oblate formation at Our Lady of Hope Seminary in Newburgh, NY in 1970. After his first vows at the novitiate in Godfrey, IL, in 1973, he moved to Oblate College, Washington, DC, for studies in philosophy and theology. Bishop Philip Smith, OMI, from the Philippines, ordained him a priest at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in D.C. on May19, 1979.
His first assignment after ordination to the priesthood in 1979 took him to the Sao Paulo Province in Brazil where he ministered until 1996 both as a parish priest and as director of novices.
Upon his return to the United States, he received an assignment as associate director of the pre-novitiate located at Holy Angels Parish in Buffalo, NY, and as associate pastor. In the latter position, he had the opportunity to move from the Portuguese he had used in Brazil to the Spanish required to work with the Hispanic community that worships at Holy Angels.
In 1998, Fr. Louie took over as pastor of Holy Angels where he remained until he transferred to the Oblate novitiate in Godfrey, IL, as Director of Novices in 2002.
He is comfortable using several languages: English, Portuguese and Spanish.
FR. WILLIAM MORELL, OMI
Most people who know Fr. William (Billy) Morell, OMI, are surprised to learn that he was NOT born in Texas. It was in Enid, Oklahoma, that he first saw the light of day, on December 1, 1942, the son of the late Richard and Merium Morell. But having moved to McAllen, Texas, as a lad, he quickly learned to “talk Texan” and absorb the spirit of that great state.
Beginning as a freshman at St. Anthony’s Junior Seminary in San Antonio in 1957, he also prepared for ordained ministry at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, the novitiate in Sarita, TX, Our Lady of the Snows Scholasticate in Pass Christian, MS, and Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio. Ordination to the priesthood was in 1970 at the hands of Bishop Humberto Medeiros.
His ministerial experiences have included primarily formation and administration. He taught at St. Anthony’s Seminary and was superior of the George Sexton Scholasticate community. From 1985-91, he served as provincial of the former Southern Province. After a well-deserved sabbatical, he became director of the Joseph Gerard pre-novitiate community in San Antonio, and then spent two years in the formation community in Lusaka, Zambia.
In 1995, he took on the role of President of Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio. During his tenure, OST saw great expansion with the building of the new Renewal Center, the Pat Guidon Center, and the O'Shaughnessy Library. He left that ministry in May, 2004 and was just beginning a sabbatical when he received word of his newest assignment.
Besides English, he speaks and understands Spanish.
FR. WILLIAM O’DONNELL, OMI
Known for his administrative skills, his attention to details, and his brainy sense of humor, Fr. William (Bill) O’Donnell calls Buffalo, NY, his “hometown.” His parents, the late Philip and Kathleen O’Donnell, were members of the Oblate parish, Holy Angels, and they sent their son to the Oblate-run high school, Bishop Fallon.
Since he had a scholarship for Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY, he chose to go there rather than enter the Oblate formation program. However, immediately after graduation with a B.A. in History, he entered the Oblate novitiate in Tewksbury, MA, in 1965 and professed vows there in 1966. After novitiate, he went to Rome to study at the Oblate International Scholasticate where he was ordained on December 19, 1970, by the late Bishop John Taylor, OMI, of Stockholm.
Since ordination, he has held numerous assignments in the former Eastern Province, as provincial councilor for several provincials, as Vicar Provincial, and in parish ministry in Massachusetts, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. He also served the Oblate Conference of the United States as Executive Secretary from 1991-1992.
Besides his native English, he can speak Italian and French and read Spanish, German, and Latin.
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