The clergy that serve St. Hugh of Lincoln are affiliated with St. Gertrude the Great Church in West Chester, OH.
The Most Rev. Daniel Dolan
?ó?é¼?Ç£ Bishop
The Rev. Charles McGuire
?ó?é¼?Ç£ Pastor
Fr. Charles McGuire was born in 1981 just outside the small town of Chillicothe, Ohio.?é?á When he was about fifteen years old, he and his family left the New Vatican II Religion and became Traditional Catholics.?é?á The Rev. Anthony Cekada was instrumental in helping him to understand what had happened in the Church since the 1960?ó?é¼?äós.
After much deliberation, Fr. McGuire left his childhood home for Detroit, Michigan in 1999, in order to join Most Holy Trinity Seminary (now located in Brooksville, Florida), which is under the direction of the Most Rev. Donald Sanborn.?é?á He attended the minor seminary for his senior year of high school before entering the major seminary, which was at that time a six-year program.
Father was ordained a priest on November 16th, 2005 by the Most Rev. Daniel Dolan at St. Gertrude the Great Church in West Chester, Ohio.
In his first year as a priest, he was an assistant to Bp. Sanborn, teaching Latin and English Grammar to the seminarians, as well as High School Religion at Queen of All Saints Academy.?é?á He also traveled to several of the missions.?é?á Shortly thereafter, Father was transferred to Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Church in Fraser, Michigan, where he assisted Fr. Carlos Ercoli and also continued his mission travels.?é?á In December of 2007, he was moved to St. Hugh of Lincoln Church where he resided until December 2009.?é?á At that time, he was transferred to St. Gertrude the Great Church where he assists Bp. Daniel Dolan in his work.?é?á Father continues to be the pastor of St. Hugh?ó?é¼?äós and frequently comes to offer holy Mass.
The Rev.?é?áStephen McKenna
?ó?é¼?Ç£ Assistant Pastor
Fr. Stephen McKenna was born in 1985, in Tewksbury, MA.?é?á He was raised in the Novus Ordo (and largely non-practicing).?é?á However, in 2002, Fr. McKenna and some friends had found out about the Latin Mass and attended for the first time.?é?á He was immediately struck by the beauty of the Traditional Mass and soon after had learned enough about the crisis in the Novus Ordo, with the help of Bp. Robert McKenna (no relation), to leave the new religion behind and embrace the Traditional Catholicism.
After graduating high school, Fr. McKenna entered the University of Massachusetts.?é?á In the timespan of 3 ?é?? years, Fr. McKenna had graduated from the University of Massachusetts with two bachelor?ó?é¼?äós degrees: one in Philosophy and one in Criminal Justice.
After working for a little while as a property manager for a major commercial real estate company in the Boston area, he left to begin seminary studies in Spokane, WA at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church under the tutelage of Fr. Kevin Vaillancourt and with oversite by Bp. Robert McKenna and Bp. Daniel Dolan.
On February 11, 2012, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, Fr. Stephen McKenna was ordained to the priesthood by the Most Rev. Daniel Dolan.
Since that time, Fr. McKenna has worked at St. Gertrude the Great Church in West Chester, OH.?é?á His primary work is traveling to and providing the sacraments for many of the missions associated with St. Gertrude?ó?é¼?äós.?é?á He is currently the pastor of missions in Dallas, Austin, and El Paso, TX, Grand Forks and Minot, ND, and Park Falls, WI. He is also the pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Spokane, WA.?é?á He is also the assistant pastor to Fr. Charles McGuire here at St. Hugh of Lincoln Church.
The Rev.?é?áVili Lehtoranta
Fr. Vili Lehtoranta was born in 1978 in Turku, the old capital and ecclesiastical center of Finland. He attended the Finnish public school system and received Lutheran religious education by the state Church. After graduating from the gymnasium in 1997 and required military service, he began to study Church history at the University of Helsinki.
Fr. Lehtoranta converted from Lutheranism to Catholicism (Novus ordo) in 1998. In the same year he saw the Tridentine Mass for the First time in Stockholm, Sweden, where the SSPX priests from London came to offer Mass. After beginning studies in the University, Fr. Lehtoranta gave up on the Traditional movement but re-discovered it in 2006, when he read some of Fr. Cekada’s writings. He made his first trip to the USA in late 2006 to visit St. Gertrude the Great church in Cincinnati, and talk with Bp. Dolan and Fr. Cekada. Fr. Lehtoranta was conditionally baptized in March 2007. After graduating from the University of Helsinki as a Master of Theology in spring, Fr. Lehtoranta started his studies at the Most Holy Trinity Seminary in Brooksville, FL in September 2007.
Fr. Lehtoranta was ordained a priest on November 16, 2011, at St. Gertrude the Great by Bp. Dolan. He graduated from the seminary in Summer of 2012. Since then, his main occupation has been teaching religion in St. Gertrude the Great School, as well as saying the daily High Mass and preaching to our schoolchildren. He is also the pastor of our St. Clare mission in Chillicothe, Ohio, and often travels to say the Sunday Mass at Our Lady of the Rosary chapel in Shuteston, Louisiana.
The Most Rev. Daniel L. Dolan
Bishop
Education and Ordination
Daniel Lytle Dolan was born in 1951 in Detroit Michigan. He began his preparation for the priesthood in 1965 at the archdiocesan minor seminary in Detroit. He continued his studies in the Cistercian Order and at the seminary of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in Ec?â??ne, Switzerland, where was ordained a priest by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre on June 29, 1976.
As a seminarian at Ec?â??ne in autumn 1973, he had already come to the conclusion that the only logical explanation for evil of the the New Mass and the errors of Vatican II was that Paul VI, due to personal heresy, had lost the pontificate. Ever since, he has steadfastly held that position regarding Paul VI and his successors, and never once acknowledged them as popes in the Canon of his Mass.
This explanation for the situation after Vatican II later came to be known popularly as “sedevacantism” (from the Latin term for the interregnum between popes).
Missionary Work in SSPX
In early 1977 Father Dolan returned to the U.S., where he acquired a reputation as an eloquent preacher, and where in a few years, he had founded over 35 traditionalist Mass centers from East coast to West. In early 1983 Archbishop Lefebvre attempted to impose a “liturgical reform” on SSPX’s American priests. Nine American priests, including Fr. Dolan, refused, and were promptly expelled from SSPX. (Four more would later join them.)
Expansion in Cincinnati
Fr. Dolan continued his missionary apostolate unchanged and increased the number of activities at his principal church, St. Gertrude the Great in Cincinnati, Ohio. The parish, which he founded himself in 1978, is one of the largest (600 members) and best-organized in the U.S.
Episcopal Consecration
Bp. Dolan was consecrated a bishop in St. Gertrude the Great Church in Cincinnati on 30 November 1993, the Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle, during the course of Solemn Pontifical Mass. The rite took three hours, and all the solemnities of the Pontificale Romanum were observed.
Current Apostolate
Bishop Dolan continues to serve as Pastor of St. Gertrude the Great Church in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In addition Bishop Dolan conducts a modest national and international apostolate. He confirms in churches in the U.S. operated by former members of SSPX, and has also travelled extensively to conduct episcopal functions for traditionalist churches and organizations in Mexico, France, Belgium and Italy.
The Rev. Anthony Cekada
Pastor
Born in 1951, Anthony Cekada studied at De Sales Preparatory Seminary and St. Francis Seminary College in Milwaukee, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in Theology in 1973. He also studied organ and composition at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. Already discontent with the Vatican II changes, he entered the Cistercians of the Common Observance, a conservative monastic order.
In 1975 he entered St. Pius X Seminary in Ec?â??ne, Switzerland, completed his studies, and was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1977. Following his ordination, Father Cekada taught seminarians at St. Joseph’s House of Studies Armada, Michigan, and St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, Ridgefield, Connecticut.
From 1979 to he traveled on weekends to offer the traditional Mass in traditional churches and missions in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota.
In 1989 Father Cekada moved to Cincinnati, where he now assists with pastoral work. He also offers the traditional Mass in Columbus and Milwaukee on weekends.
He has since devoted a considerable amount of time to research and writing. TAN Books published two of his works criticizing the post-Vatican II liturgical reform. One was a commentary and new translation for The Ottaviani Intervention, a key document in the history of the traditional movement. The other, The Problems with the Prayers of the Modern Mass, discusses the systematic omission of certain doctrines (hell, the soul, miracles, the true Church, etc.) from the Missal of Paul VI.
Father Cekada has also written two introductory booklets for newcomers to the traditional Mass: Welcome to the Traditional Latin Mass and Traditionalists, Infallibility and the Pope. Both are extremely popular and have achieved wide circulation, due to their succinct and scholarly treatment of the issues of the New Mass and the pope. Father Cekada’s writings are available from our bookstore, as well as from articles online.
Once a month during the academic year Father Cekada travels to Florida to teach Canon Law, Liturgy, and Scripture at Most Holy Trinity Seminary.