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A Farewell to the Chaplain

Spring, 2011

Dear Saint David’s School Community:

Traveling widely and moving often, St. Ignatius Loyola had no real definitive plans when he left the castle home of his family, Loyola, in 1522. In keeping with the founder of his order, our beloved Chaplain, Father Steve Katsouros is leaving us, but unlike Ignatius, he has a plan. The Jesuit superiors and Father Katsouros have discerned and decided it’s time for him to put to use his doctoral studies, and so in August 2011, Father Katsouros will become the Director of the Institute of Catholic Educational Leadership in the School of Education at the University of San Francisco. USF is one of the 28 Jesuit institutions of higher education in the United States. This is obviously an exciting move for Father Katsouros, even though a sad one for us.

Father Katsouros succeeded Monsignor Thomas Leonard as the school’s Chaplain in 2003 and has served these past 8 years with distinction. He was as much at home judging the Nightingale-Bamford Lecture series each year as he was hearing the confessions of our sons, making him a true Renaissance man. It will be his incredible sermons, though, that will leave their mark on the fabric of this school. Father Katsouros’ words engaged the boys and connected them to the biblical stories by carefully weaving the lessons of scripture with the most modern of cinema heroes to find the moral perspective—whether it be Harry Potter and his friends or Nemo of Finding Nemo fame. Providentially, Father Katsouros’ last mass at Saint David’s was the school’s 60th Anniversary Liturgy at St. Ignatius Loyola—how fitting that more than 1,000 members of our community were in attendance.

St. Ignatius called Montserrat, Manresa, Barcelona, Salamanca, Jerusalem, and Paris “home” at different times in his life. For our Chaplain, it has been Washington, DC, Cambridge, Chicago, Jersey City, New York City, and now, San Francisco. We wish Father Katsouros every happiness as he continues his mission-focused journey. We were incredibly fortunate to have him here with us, in our home, for such a significant span of time. May he inspire, educate and comfort all those he ministers to in the future, as he has done for those in his past. Please join me in expressing our collective affection and esteem for our Chaplain. I remain,

Sincerely and respectfully yours,

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