Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted

Bishop, Diocese of Phoenix

Most Reverend Thomas J. Olmsted was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb., July 2, 1973. He was installed as the Bishop of the Diocese of Phoenix December 20, 2003. Prior to his arrival in Phoenix he served as Bishop of Wichita, Kansas, after being ordained Coadjutor Bishop on April 20, 1999. Before serving in Wichita, he served as the Rector / President of the Pontifical College Josephinum, a Catholic Seminary in Columbus, Ohio.

Since 1974, Bishop Olmsted has been a member of the Jesus Caritas fraternity of priests, and thus has been deeply influenced by the witness and wisdom of Charles de Foucauld and by the prayers and encouragement of many brother priests.

Read more about Bishop Thomas Olmsted >

George Cardinal Pell

George Cardinal Pell, formerly Archbishop of Sydney (2001–2014) and of Melbourne (1996–2001), Australia, was appointed in 2014 by Pope Francis as Prefect of the Secretariate for the Economy at the Vatican. He also served on Pope Francis' Council of Cardinals. Cardinal Pell received a Licentiate of Sacred Theology from the Urbanianum University in Rome, and his DPhil in Theology from the University of Oxford.

His Eminence was released from prison in April 2020 after one year following an unjustly decided case against him that was unanimously reversed by Australia’s High Court.

Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC

Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, a convert to Catholicism, is a member of the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception.

Before his conversion to Catholicism, he was a high school dropout who had been kicked out of a foreign country, institutionalized twice, and thrown in jail multiple times. After his radical conversion, he earned a B.A. in Philosophy and Theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, M.Div. and S.T.B. degrees from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, and an S.T.L. in Mariology from the International Marian Research Institute in Dayton, Ohio.

He leads pilgrimages around the world and is the author of 14 books.  His latest bestseller is "Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father."  His website is www.fathercalloway.com 

To find out more about Fr. Donald Calloway, visit www.fathercalloway.com >

Father Michael Schmitz

Father Michael Schmitz is the director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Duluth as well as the Chaplain for the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. After attending the Saint Paul Seminary and being ordained in 2003, Father Mike offers weekly homilies on iTunes and bulldogCatholic.org and has appeared in programs for youth and young adults through Ascension Press, as well as through regular short video messages on Ascension Presents.

Fr. John Riccardo

Fr. John Riccardo was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1996, where he served as a pastor for 15 years. He is the Founder and Executive Director of ACTS XXIX, a non-profit apostolate that exists because God wants His world back. ACTS XXIX equips bishops, priests, deacons and lay leaders for the apostolic age in which we live.

Fr. John and his team wrote a white paper entitled, “Re-Imagining What a Catholic Parish Can Be: A Destination for the 21st Century;” they post the weekly podcast, “You Were Born for This with Fr. John Riccardo;” and they publish the weekly article, “Thoughts from the Trailer.” He is the host of the radio program “Christ is the Answer” and has authored several books, including, Rescued: The Unexpected and Extraordinary News of the Gospel.

Fr. John is a graduate of the University of Michigan, the Gregorian University in Rome, and the Pope John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family.

To learn more about ACTS XXIX, visit www.actsxxix.org >

Jesse Romero

With the same passion and commitment that made him a three-time World Police Olympics boxing champion, a former U.S.A. middleweight kickboxing champion and a retired veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Jesse shares Catholic teaching with an exciting style that is guaranteed to strengthen, edify and fortify you with a deeper love for God!

After rediscovering his Catholic roots, Jesse studied and prayed his way back to a fervent on–going practice of the Catholic Faith. Through his vast experiences with non–Catholics and fallen–away Catholics alike, Jesse has become proficient on how to “speak the truth in charity” (Ephesians 4:15) and is very effective at bringing them into the fullness of truth found only in the Catholic Church.

Jesse holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Mount St. Mary’s College in Los Angeles, CA and he has a Master’s Degree in Catholic Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. As the proud parents of Paul, Annmarie and Joshua, Jesse and his wife Anita have been happily married since 1983.

Fr. Paul Sullivan

Fr. Sullivan grew up in New York in a family of eight children. He attended the State University of New York at Albany where he earned a degree in accounting. After working for the firms of PriceWaterhouseCoopers and KPMG in New York and Phoenix respectively as a CPA, he entered formation at Saint Meinrad Seminary in preparation for ordination in 2007.

Since then he has served in as a parochial vicar, director of a retreat center, high school chaplain and pastor. Since 2008, he has served as Director of Vocations for the diocese and for the past 7 years has served as Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Phoenix. He is also Rector of the Nazareth House Seminary here in Phoenix. He also serves on the staff of the Institute for Priestly Formation in their spiritual formation certificate program for priests.

Jose Luis Escobedo

Husband, Father, Engineer, Founder of Summa Health and Fitness


Jose Luis is an industrial engineer and the founder of Summa Health and Fitness, a health and fitness coaching company dedicated to helping others reach their summit. Jose Luis is on fire for his faith and seeks to make impactful changes in those seeking to transform their lives; both spiritually and physically. He has a powerful testimony of how suffering is an opportunity to trust God, he loves to educate others on pro-life/Catholic apologetics, and he calls on men, specifically, to consecrate themselves to Christ, each and every day.

Doug Franz

Doug Franz is the co-host of “Doug & Wolf,” the longest running sports talk show in the history of Arizona.

“When I was 19, I hiked the Grand Canyon.  It was then I knew I wanted to live in Arizona.”  On January 2, 2007, his dreams came true when “Doug & Wolf” had their first broadcast.

After cramming a four-year degree into five-years at his beloved Ohio University, Doug married, Jennifer, his college sweetheart, in 1996, while living in their home state of Ohio.  Franz “...wanted her to learn very quickly how much I loved baseball,” so they went to Cooperstown, New York on their honeymoon. After going to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Doug and Jennifer finished their trip in Boston where Jennifer sang the National Anthem at Fenway Park.   

The couple has two daughters, and the family is active in their home parish of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Avondale.  Doug was a youth soccer coach for thirteen years and has been of member of the Knights of Columbus for 20 years.  He has been the Public Address Announcer for the annual Diocesan Priest v. Seminarian Basketball game since its inception in 2015 and was the emcee for the 2020 Arizona For Life event. 

“I love Arizona and I love my job,” says Franz.  “I appreciate ‘Doug & Wolf’ listeners more than they’ll ever know.  I pray that I exemplify a strongly-faithed Catholic father and husband while reflecting the joy and frustration of passionate Phoenix sports fans.”