PATTY SCHNEIER
Catholic Author and Speaker
Patty Schneier is a Catholic author, speaker, and radio host from the Archdiocese of St. Louis. For 21 years, she has travelled the country, inspiring Catholics to reignite their faith. Her book, Love Letters from Mom on What Matters Most, is a must-read for parents who want to pass the faith on to their children, and her podcast, The Daily Dose of Encouragement, is heard daily on Covenant Network Catholic Radio. Patty has been a guest on EWTN and is a recipient of the Archbishop Robert J. Carlson Excellence in Communications Award. She and her husband Larry have been married for 36 years; their oldest son is a priest for the Archdiocese of St. Louis.
LEONORA BUTAU, PhD
Associate Fellow, St. John Paul II Foundation
Dr. Leonora Butau is an Associate Fellow at the St. John Paul II Foundation. Leonora moved to Houston from England, where she taught Christian Ethics and Christian Spirituality at St. Mary’s University, London, for eight years, and where she led efforts to empower Catholic couples, educators and young adults in St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. While in London, she also worked for Caritas Social Action Network, the charitable agency of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. She earned a B.A. in Theology and Religious Studies and an M.A. in Bioethics and Medical Law from St. Mary’s University, London, and has a Ph.D. in Bioethics from the University of Surrey, (England). Leonora is blessed to be married to Rufaro and to enjoy the gift of their two sons, Jesse and Louis.
MOST REV. JOSEPH E. STRICKLAND
Bishop of Tyler
Bishop Joseph Edward Strickland was born the sixth child of Raymond and Monica Strickland on October 31, 1958 in Fredericksburg, Texas and relocated to Atlanta, TX in June of 1963. The Stricklands were founding members of St. Catherine of Sienna Church in Atlanta, Texas.
He entered Holy Trinity Seminary and the University of Dallas; studying for the Diocese of Dallas in August of 1977, and earned a Bachelor of Philosophy in May of 1981. He continued his education at Holy Trinity and the University of Dallas and his Master of Divinity Degree in May of 1985 and was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Dallas on June 1, 1985.
He was assigned as a newly ordained priest to Immaculate Conception Church in Tyler, Texas in June of 1985 and upon the erection of the Diocese of Tyler on February 24, 1987, he joined the presbyterate of the new diocese and was named the first vocation director for the diocese in March of 1987 by Bishop Charles Herzig.
He completed his canonical studies with a Licentiate in Canon Law in May of 1994 and was assigned by Bishop Edmond Carmody as rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Tyler, Texas in June of that same year.
He continued to serve as rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and Judicial Vicar of the diocese until February 1, 2010 when Bishop Corrada named him Vicar General. He served in that capacity until September of 2011 when Bishop Corrada was installed as the second Bishop of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico and appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Tyler sede vacante.
On September 29, 2012 it was announced that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI had chosen him as the Fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Tyler. He was ordained to the episcopacy on November 28, 2012.