Rev. Msgr. Joseph L. Luca -- Pastor
Monsignor Joseph L. Luca is presently serving as Pastor of St. Louis Church -- one of the largest congregations in the Archdiocese of Baltimore with a registration of over 4200 families. He was appointed to that role by Cardinal William Keeler in February of 1996. Prior to this appointment, Msgr. Luca's pastoral experience included serving for three years as the Director of RENEW for the Archdiocese of Baltimore and for 12 years as pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parish in Middle River, MD. He is also fondly remembered as an Associate Pastor at St. Francis of Assisi parish in Baltimore and at St. Joseph Parish in Cockeysville, MD.
Monsignor Luca is a native of Baltimore and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Baltimore in May 1970 by Cardinal Shehan. Prior to priestly ordination, Msgr. Luca studied at the University of Maryland, College Park and at Resurrection College in Kitchener, Ontario; he also studied at Mount St. Mary's Seminary, Emmitsburg, MD where he received a Master's Degree in Systematic Theology. Although his ministry has been primarily devoted to parish service, he has actively served on various boards and commissions of the Archdiocese of Baltimore including the Board of Catholic Charities, The Cathedral Foundation Board, the Priest Personnel Board, the Lay Retirement Board and the Priests Council. He was named a Prelate of Honor with the title of Monsignor by Pope John Paul II in December of 1995.
Fr. James Sorra --Associate Pastor
Fr. Jim was born in the Philippines and immigrated with his family to the United States at a very young age. He grew up in a large family as the 7 th of 8 children in Baltimore County. He received his undergraduate degree in Accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park. He also attended the School of Law at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and worked in accounting and project management before entering seminary. Fr. Jim received his S.T.B. and M. Div. from St. Mary’s Seminary & University, Roland Park, and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 2006.
His previous parish assignments as a seminarian have been at Our Lady of Hope, Dundalk; St. Francis de Sales, Abingdon; The Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, Homeland; St. Lucy, Syracuse, N.Y.; St. John, Westminister; and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Middle River.
Fr. Jim is very happy being a priest, and enjoys serving the St. Louis parish family in the many and varied pastoral ministries in which he is involved.
Fr. Dominique Peridans --Associate Pastor
Fr. Dominique was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Montgomery County, Maryland, the child of Belgian immigrants – hence the French spelling of his name, and his fluency in French. A graduate of Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, he began his undergraduate studies at West Virginia University, and finished at the University of Steubenville, in Ohio, with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Upon graduation he moved to Brussels, Belgium, where he worked with mentally handicapped adults in the l’Arche community. From there, he joined the Congregation of Saint John, based in Burgundy, France. In the Congregation, he received a DEUG (Master equivalent) in both Philosophy and Theology, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1996. Fr. Dominique’s first ministerial appointment was in the Diocese of Laredo, Texas, where he served, in a non-parochial setting, in various capacities, from Prison chaplain to University chaplain, until arriving in the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 2003. He has served at Our Lady of Sorrows in Owensville, Holy Family in Davidsonville, and Saint John in Frederick. In addition to his love for ministry, Fr. Dominique enjoys bicycling, yoga, various arts, philosophical debate, natural foods, and more. Like the other priests of the parish, he too is honored to be serving at Saint Louis Parish.
Mr. Fred Mauser -- Deacon
Fred grew up in a large family in St. Jerome's parish in Hyattsville, MD. He graduated from Gonzaga High School and subsequently earned an AB degree in Mathematics from Mount St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, MD and a MS degree in Numerical Science from The Johns Hopkins University. In 2006 Fred retired from a 40-year career in or supporting the Department of Defense. Fred is the exceptionally proud father of four and grandfather of six (and counting!).
Fred was ordained a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of Baltimore in May 2003 and is delighted to be assigned to St. Louis, where he has been an active parishioner since 1975.
Mr. Lyle Weiss -- Pastoral Associate
Lyle Weiss joined the parish staff as pastoral associate in July of 2003. His responsibilities include directing RCIA, adult formation and sacramental preparation programs, small Christian communities, pastoral visitors, our sister parishes in Haiti and Western Maryland, bereavement ministry, outreach ministry, and is the director of STAND for the Protection of Children and Youth.
Lyle is a native of Baltimore, having grown up in St. Anthony of Padua parish. He graduated from Archbishop Curley High School and received his BS in psychology from then Towson State University. He received his Master's Degree in Theology at St. Mary's Seminary in 1995 and he earned his Licentiate in Sacred Theology in 2001. He is currently completing his doctoral dissertation on the public significance of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. Prior to joining the St. Louis pastoral staff, Lyle served as a theology teacher at Towson Catholic High School for four years and served as a pastoral associate at Sacred Heart Parish, Glyndon for six years. He currently serves on the theological faculty of St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore and will begin serving on the faculty of St. Mary's Ecumenical Institute in spring, 2005. He is the author of two books, God Lives Next Door and The Compatibility of Being Catholic and American: The Theology of John Courtney Murray, and one article, Reform, Resist, Resign: Catholic and American in the Third Millennium. His wife, Terry, is our school principal, and he is the proud father of their son, Noah. They currently live in Ellicott City.
Mr. Paul Carroll -- Director of Music
As the Director of Music, Paul J. Carroll has the opportunity to work with a variety of singers, choirs, and instrumentalists to provide music for parish life at St. Louis. Paul holds Master and Bachelor of Music degrees in Organ from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University where he studied with Donald Sutherland. As a church musician, Paul has been active in the United States and Europe. At age 15, he took his first position at church in his native Lansdale, PA subsequently becoming the Organist and Music Coordinator for Youth Ministry at Corpus Christi Church in Lansdale, PA. From 2002-2007, Paul served as the Director of Music at St. Clement Church in Lansdowne, MD. As a soloist, accompanist, and orchestral musician Paul has performed in the United States, Italy, Russia, Germany, Austria, Spain and Israel.