New Faculty

WILL ROBBINS ’25, DIOCESE OF BEAUMONT

Rev. Msgr. Thomas Powers ‘97

joins the North American College as the 24th Rector. A priest of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Msgr. Powers was raised in Newtown, Connecticut. He holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Notre Dame and worked as a financial consultant in New York City prior to entering the seminary. After philosophy studies at Saint John Fisher Seminary in Trumbull, Msgr. Powers attended the Pontifical North American College and earned a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University. He then obtained a Licentiate from the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Bridgeport in 1997 and has served in many capacities. Most notably, Msgr. Powers was an Official in the Congregation of Bishops for ten years while also serving as an adjunct spiritual director at the North American College. Immediately prior to beginning as Rector, Msgr. Powers was the Vicar General of the Diocese of Bridgeport and the Pastor of Saint John Parish in Darien, Connecticut.

Rev. Anthony Ligato hails from

the Diocese of Albany and comes to the North American College as the Assistant Vice Rector, Coordinator of Pastoral Formation, and a Formation Advisor. Fr. Ligato was raised in Troy, New York, and received a B.S. in Marketing and Management from Siena College in Loudonville, New York. He then attended St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, Maryland, where he obtained both a Master of Divinity and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology. Fr. Ligato was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Albany in 1995 and has served in many parishes and capacities in his 27 years of priesthood. Prior to coming to the North American College, Fr. Ligato served as Vicar of Vocations for the Diocese of Albany, Rector of the St. Isaac Jogues House of Formation and Pre-Seminary, and Rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany, New York.

Rev. David Foster, OSB is a

Benedictine monk of Downside Abbey and joins the North American College as the Coordinator of Studies. He was born and raised in Birmingham, England, and received his degree from Corpus Christi College at Oxford. Fr. Foster entered the novitiate at Downside Abbey in 1980 and was ordained a priest in 1987. He has served in many capacities at the Abbey, such as Novice Master, Claustral Prior, and teacher in their high school. In 2012, Fr. Foster moved to Sant’ Anselmo, the International Benedictine College in Rome, where he continues to serve as a professor of philosophy, Latin, and Greek. In addition to his teaching duties, Fr. Foster is also the director of the schola cantorum and liturgical music at Sant’Anselmo. Fr. Foster is a published author with two works on prayer, Reading with God and Deep Calls to Deep.

Rev. Peter John Cameron, OP

is a Dominican priest of the Province of St. Joseph and joins the faculty of the North American College as the Carl J. Peter Chair of Homiletics and as a formation advisor. Fr. Cameron grew up in Vernon, Connecticut. He was ordained a priest in 1986. Fr. Cameron has a Licentiate with a focus on the Passion narrative in the Gospel of Mark and a Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting from the Catholic University of America. He began teaching homiletics in 1994 in a myriad of seminaries, such as St. Joseph’s Seminary—Dunwoodie, New York; Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington, New York; the Dominican House of Studies, Washington, DC; and the Pontifical College Josephinum, Columbus, Ohio. Fr. Cameron was the Founding Editor-in-Chief of Magnificat, serving from 1998-2018. Additionally, he is the Editorial Director of Aleteia, the founder and artistic director of Blackfriars Repertory Theatre in New York City, and the author of ten books. Prior to joining the faculty at the North American College, Fr. Cameron was the Prior of St. Patrick Priory in Columbus, Ohio.

Rev. Eóin Moore, O.Carm. is

a native of Dublin, Ireland, and a member of the Irish Province of the Order of Carmelites. He comes to the North American College as a Spiritual Director from his most recent appointment in Kinsale, County Cork, where he was Bursar and Director of the Spirituality & Retreat Centre. Fr. Moore completed his Philosophical and Divinity studies at the Milltown Institute of Philosophy and Theology in Dublin and his Liturgical Studies at the National Centre for Liturgy in Carlow. He holds professional and postgraduate qualifications in Education with a specialization in Advocacy and Special Needs Education. Fr. Moore has worked in parish, school, hospital, and spirituality center ministries, and he has held appointments as Sub-Prior, Vocations Director, Bursar, Chaplain, Spiritual Director, Teacher, and Curate. He attended the ICTE course in 2020 and spent the initial COVID-19 lock-down at the North American College.

Mr. Stephen Smith comes to the

North American College as the new Coordinator of Liturgical Music and Choir Director. He is a native of Tiffin, Ohio, and comes to Rome with his wife, Elizabeth, and tenmonth-old daughter, Briella. Mr. Smith earned his Bachelor’s degree from Heidelberg University, where he was both a featured organ soloist and accompanist as well as the kicker and punter for the football team. Mr. Smith holds a Master’s in Organ Performance and Sacred Music from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Prior to moving to Rome, Mr. Smith was the Director of Sacred Music and Organist at Saint Joan of Arc Parish in Powell, Ohio, and is a composer and arranger of sacred music for choirs and congregations. n

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