Catholic Association of Diocesan Ecumenical and Interreligious Officers

Leadership.

Executive Committee

PRESIDENT. Father Don Rooney is a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, and Pastor of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia, a parish family of about 14,000. He received his MA in Systematic Theology from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia following a number of years as a creative director and owner of an advertising design firm. He was ordained in 1994.

For seven years he has served as the Officer for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs for the Diocese of Arlington, as well as a number of related organizations: formerly, Secretary of CADEIO; Treasurer of the Virginia State Committee of Lutheran, Anglican, Roman Catholic and United Methodist Churches (LARCUM), as well as a member of the Coordinating Cabinet for the Virginia Council of Churches. He is an active participant in several local and national dialogues and is a founding partner in the Catholic Muslim Dialogue of northern Virginia. He served as the national chair of the National Workshop on Christian Unity in Tampa in 2010. He also serves as member on a number of boards whose work is ecumenical and philanthropic in nature, including the Holy Land Christians Society whose goal is to promote education and peace, and Micah Ecumenical Ministries in Fredericksburg which seeks to serve the needs of the poor and homeless and the resettlement of refugees through the network of downtown churches.


VICE PRESIDENT. Rt. Rev. Alexei Smith was born and raised in the Hyde Park area of Los Angeles, CA, and attended local Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools. His undergraduate studies at the University of Southern California were in the field of International Relations. Father Alexei worked for several years in private industry prior to his entering Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Boston, MA, in 1983. Awarded a Master of Divinity Degree, with High Distinction, in 1987, he was ordained a Greek Catholic Priest of the Eparchy of Newton, MA, that same year, and assigned as Pastor of Saint Andrew Russian Greek Catholic Church in El Segundo, CA, and also Administrator of Saint Paul Melkite Greek Catholic Mission in the same city.

Father Alexei served as an elected member of the Council of Priests of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles for six years, serving as Vice President of the Council and Chair of the Priestly Life and Ministry Committee for the last two years of his service on the Council. He is currently a member of the Spirituality Commission of the Archdiocese, and has been invested as a Knight Commander of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

In November of 2000, Cardinal Roger Mahony appointed Father Alexei to a five year term as Ecumenical and Interreligious Officer of the Archdiocese, and reappointed him to a second five year term in July 2006. Three years ago Father Alexei was appointed by the President of CADEIO as its Liaison to Christian Churches Together, where he currently serves on the Criteria for Membership Committee, as well as the Development of Regional Network's Taskforce.

Father Alexei served as president of the Interreligious Council of Southern California for five years and is the recipient of numerous commendations and awards: in 2007 he was awarded the prestigious Religious Leadership Award of the Valley Interfaith Council.

Father Alexei taught a course entitled "Interfaith Dialogue Since Vatican II" at Mount Saint Mary's College, and most recently a course entitled "Current Trends in Ecumenical and Interreligious Thought" as part of the International Institute of Tribunal Studies.


SECRETARY. Msgr. George Appleyard was ordained a priest in 1968. After spending a decade as superior of a monastery, he accepted a parochial assignment. In 1984 he joined the newly created Eparchy of St. Josaphat in Parma for Ukrainian Catholics. For almost all of his parochial ministry he has served in the Pittsburgh PA area as a pastor, during which he supervised the construction of two housing projects for the elderly. In 1995 he was given the Good Shepherd Award for excellence in ministry by the Serra Club of Pittsburgh. He has also served on several of the Eparchy's commissions, including those for liturgy and catechetics.

He is the director of its deacon training program, editor of the eparchial newsletter, past secretary of the Sacerdotal Society (which looks after the needs of retired priests), present secretary of the College of Consultors, of which he is the senior member, dean of the eparchy's Central Deanery, and vicar general of the diocese. For more than a decade he has been an active member of NADEO-CADEIO, having served as secretary and vice president. As secretary, he chaired the revision of the Constitution and By-Laws in 2006. He has been a member of Notre Dame of Ohio College's committee for its annual seminar on the Eastern Churches even longer. He was co-editor of a two volume set of the Byzantine breviary, and author of Light of the East: A Guide to Eastern Catholicism For Western Catholics, now in its second edition and translated into Ukrainian for distribution in Eastern Europe; and You Are Gods: An Introduction to the Concept of Deification in the Byzantine Tradition; as well as a large number of articles published in various journals. He is a senior chaplain in the Order of St. Lazarus, for which he writes a quarterly column on the Rule of St. Basil. The Order has been underwriting the keynote speaker at the National Workshop on Christian Unity these past few years. He has been a guest speaker at many institutions of higher learning, including Yale and Fordham. He still conducts retreats, days of recollection and workshops for clergy, religious and laity.


TREASURER. Father Erich Rutten the Chair of the Archdiocesan Commission on Ecumenism and Interreligious Affairs for Minneapolis/Saint Paul, and the Director of Campus Ministry for the University of St, Thomas.

The Archdiocesan Commission works to foster Christian unity by reaching out to other Christians in prayer, dialogue and service and by engaging members of other religions to promote understanding, respect and cooperation.

As Director of Campus Ministry for the University of St. Thomas, Fr. Rutten supports the spiritual life of Catholic and non-Catholic faculty, staff and students. Prior to becoming the Director of Campus Ministry, Fr. Rutten taught in both the Theology and Justice and Peace Studies Departments of the University of St. Thomas. Fr. Rutten holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Illinois-Champagne-Urbana; a Master of Arts in Systematic Theology from St. John's University; and a Master of Divinity from the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. Following his ordination, Fr. Rutten became an associate pastor at the Cathedral of St. Paul, and then the associate pastor of Our Lady of Grace in Edina.

Prior to becoming a priest, Fr. Rutten worked with the Office for Social Justice where he lobbied with Catholic Charities USA in Washington, D.C. Fr. Rutten enjoys music, especially American roots, and movies. He is always ready to offer a listening ear and a helping hand. As a priest, Fr. Rutten hopes to "communicate God's love to the people, bring reconciliation and peace, and be a guide in facing the challenges of our time."