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.

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Bishop Joseph L. Coffey

Bishop Joseph L. Coffey, son of the late Dr. William F. X Coffey, M.D., and Roseanita Schubert Coffey, was born in Rochester, MN, on May 31, 1960. He is the fifth of nine children and the proud uncle of 46 nieces and nephews and 12 great nieces and nephews. He was raised in Philadelphia and is a life-long fan of all the Philly sports teams.

Bishop Coffey graduated from La Salle University in 1982 with a double major in English/French which included a year of study at the Sorbonne University in Paris, France. After college, Bishop Coffey worked as a grade school teacher, a ski instructor in Switzerland, and in the automobile industry in Germany and Belgium for five years.

Heeding a call to the priesthood, he attended St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, PA, and graduated with a Master of Divinity degree (MDiv) and was ordained in 1996 by Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua. He earned a Master of Arts (MA) in Moral Theology, also from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in 2000.

While still in seminary, Father Coffey was given permission by Cardinal Bevilacqua to enter the U.S. Navy Chaplain Candidate Program in May of 1992 with the rank of Ensign. He stayed in the Navy Reserve for the next nine years.

Following ordination in 1996, Bishop Coffey was assigned as an Associate Pastor to St. Katherine of Siena parish in Philadelphia, PA. After five years in parish ministry, he was given permission by Cardinal Bevilacqua for full-time active duty as a Navy Chaplain in September of 2001.

Bishop Coffey’s duty assignments have included: Combat Assault Battalion, Okinawa, Japan; Division Officer and Command Chaplain on board USS GEORGE WASHINGTON (CVN 73), homeported in Norfolk, VA, with a 6 month deployment to the Arabian Gulf; Command Chaplain at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center, Cape May, NJ; Marine Air Group 39, Camp Pendleton, CA, an assignment that included a seven- month month deployment to Camp Leatherneck, Helmand Provence, Afghanistan; U.S. Navy Recruiting Command, St. Louis, MO; Command Chaplain on USS RONALD REAGAN (CVN 76), home ported in Yokosuka, Japan, with a six-month deployment to the South Pacific Ocean; and his final assignment as Assistant Chief of Staff for Religious Ministry, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, CA.

Bishop Coffey’s military awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal with 2 gold stars, the Navy Achievement Medal with 2 gold stars, the Navy Sea Service Medal, the National Defense Medal, the War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the NATO Service Medal, 3 Battle E Ribbons.

Monsignor James P. Shea

Monsignor Shea was inaugurated in 2009 as the sixth president of the University of Mary and, at the age of 34, became the youngest college or university president in the United States. He succeeded Sister Thomas Welder, O.S.B., who had served as president for 31 years.

The oldest of eight children, Monsignor Shea grew up on a dairy and grain farm near Hazelton, North Dakota, just 38 miles from the University of Mary campus. He began his undergraduate work at Jamestown College, majoring in English and history. He then entered the seminary for the Diocese of Bismarck, earning a bachelor’s degree and a pontifical master’s degree (licentiate) in philosophy at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He studied classical Greek at the University of Texas at Austin and continued at the Vatican’s North American College, studying theology at the Gregorian and Lateran universities in Rome. He has studied management at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business and is also an alumnus of the Institutes for Higher Education at the Graduate School of Education, Harvard University.

Monsignor Shea has worked with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity at the Gift of Peace AIDS Hospice while teaching religion at two inner-city elementary schools in Washington, D.C. In Rome, he served as chaplain for the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital and also at the Rome campus of the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of Saint Thomas.

Following his ordination to the priesthood in 2002, he returned to North Dakota and served as an associate pastor in Bismarck and Mandan. During that time, he was also the chaplain and an instructor at Saint Mary’s Central High School in Bismarck. He then served as pastor to parishes in Killdeer and Halliday (North Dakota), while teaching at Trinity High School in Dickinson. Deeply committed to the education and formation of young people, he has been an inspirational teacher and mentor for many students.

Monsignor Shea is a Knight Commander of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and serves on the Board of Directors for FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. He has served on the National Advisory Council to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Governor’s Commission on Education Improvement for the State of North Dakota. Monsignor is also a Trustee of Saint John Vianney Seminary in Denver and a member of the Executive Committee of the Board for the Association of Benedictine Colleges and Universities.

Matt Birk

Super Bowl champion Matt Birk is a 15-year veteran of the National Football League. Since retiring from football in 2013, Matt has held a number of roles inside the NFL League Office. A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, Matt was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in 1998 and was a key off-season acquisition of the Baltimore Ravens in 2009. A six-time NFL Pro Bowl Selection and two-time All Pro, Matt proved to be an undisputed leader on the field and was named the sixth smartest athlete by Sporting News. More importantly, he has established a legacy of community service that will last far beyond his years of football.

A graduate of Harvard University with a degree in economics, Matt is the founder and CEO of Matt Birk and Company. He was the recipient of the 2011 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award for his excellence on and off the field, including his commitment to emphasizing the importance of education through his H.I.K.E. Foundation. Established in 2002, H.I.K.E. stands for hope, inspiration, knowledge, and education, and impacts the lives of at-risk children by providing interactive programs and resources needed to guide a child though key educational transitions.

Matt also launched the “Ready, Set, Read!” program in Baltimore-area public schools to motivate and encourage more than 100,000 students to read at home through a system of incentives. He partnered with Scholastic to form “Read and Rise,” an initiative to join schools, families, and communities together in supporting the development of children’s literacy.

Matt parlays his diverse experiences culled from winning championships, creating partnerships, and educating others into a memorable message that connects with attendees and transforms audiences. He speaks to organizations across the country about the value of true inspiration, lasting leadership principles, the dynamics of teamwork, and fulfilling potential. Clients such as 3M, Coca Cola, Northwestern Mutual Life, and Walmart have benefited from the programs Matt has presented to their teams.

Matt is a member of the Board of Directors of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Game for Life National Advisory Board, the Gridiron Greats Assistance Fund Board of Directors, and sits on the Board of Directors for the After the Impact Fund. He is the author of All Pro Wisdom: The Seven Choices that Lead to Greatness, and resides in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. Matt and his wife, Adrianna, are the proud parents of eight children.

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.

Doug Franz

Doug Franz is the host of the only podcast devoted to covering the professional and college sports teams of Phoenix and Maricopa County that’s done by a radio professional.  "Doug Franz Unplugged" can be heard wherever you download your podcasts.



Doug was born and raised Catholic in the Dayton, Ohio, area.  He crammed a four-year degree into five-years at Ohio University.  After his freshman year, he hiked the Grand Canyon, which started a love-affair with Arizona.  One year after graduation, he married his college-sweetheart.  Doug and Jennifer lived in Athens, Ohio, Huntsville, Alabama and Kansas City working their way up the radio ladder to eventually return to Arizona.



Near the end of 1999, Doug and Jennifer were living in Alabama but had returned home to Ohio to visit for Christmas.  On December 31st, while everyone was worried about Y2K, Doug and Jennifer were in the hospital hoping their daughter, Vienna, was NOT going to be born.  You see, Jennifer was only 21 weeks pregnant.  Doug never felt closer to the Holy Spirit because seven different doctors wanted to abort the pregnancy, but Doug and Jennifer stayed strong within their faith, continuing with the pregnancy for three more weeks.  Vienna was born four months early and weighed 1 pound 4 ounces.



Vienna was given a 20% chance to live without defects.  Vienna is now a healthy 22-year old woman.  She attended NAU for one year.  With the help of Father Matt Lowry and the Holy Spirit, Vienna helped to convert her agnostic roommate and roommate’s boyfriend to Catholicism.



Doug spent 15 years waking up Arizonans with Ron Wolfley on "Doug and Wolf."  It is the longest running pairing of two radio personalities in Arizona radio history.  In August, the show ended, which has allowed Doug to focus on his religion, family and new podcast.



One of the best moments in Doug’s career came after the last show when his priest from St. Thomas Aquinas in Avondale came to his door with beers and a Bible, saying, “I figured we needed to pray and drink.”

Josh Brittain

Josh was born and raised in Phoenix Arizona. He is one of 11 children of Tommy and Melissa Brittain, from whom was born his desire to be a husband and father. He attended Thomas Aquinas College where he met his beautiful wife, Kaitlyn. They have 3 children Joachim, Bosco and Maria. While being a husband and father is his greatest treasure, his work at a real estate company, as a football coach, and as a motivational speaker afford him unique opportunities to share his testimony and spread the Gospel to those he meets.

Kevin Starrs

Kevin Starrs was born in LA calif. In 1959 to Bill & Joyce Starrs and raised in a devote Catholic family. He is the third child of ten children, five boys and five girls. The family moved to the Navajo Indian reservation when he was 12 years. His father was ordained a Deacon in the Diocese of Gallup in the mid-70s.

Kevin graduated from Window Rock high school in 1978. He attended Phoenix collage on a football scholarship and eventually graduated from Arizona State University in 1988. Kevin had an adult conversion that started at the Catholic Neman center at ASU and flourished at St. Tim’s in Mesa and that continues to this day.

He was able to overcome a 12-year addiction to marijuana thanks to his faith and the community. He worked professionally for the Boys and Girls club in of the East Valley for ten years. Kevin has been in prison ministry for the Diocese of Phoenix since 1994 to the present.

He has been married to his wife Silvia for 26 years. They have 5 children and 7 grandchildren. Kevin and his wife Silvia are passionate about their faith, family, and their ministry with the incarcerated and their families.

Doug Connolly

A cradle Catholic, Doug didn't fully grasp the truth and beauty of Catholicism until after a 6-year detour into Protestantism. Soon after that, he realized that he needed to ratchet up his commitment to the pro-life cause by getting involved in 40 Days for Life. However, all the effort he has put in has only made him more keenly aware of the many people doing more (and doing it better) than he is. He helped start The A Team in the summer of 2020 with other like-minded men as a way to pull more men into the pro-life movement.

Doug works in the financial services industry, serves on the board for First Way Pregnancy Center and is the President of the Mater Misericordiae Finance Council. However, his greatest accomplishment is his marriage to his beautiful wife, Jessica, herself a convert and owner of a successful Catholic-themed business. They have 5 kids.