Stuart Swetland

Before arriving at Donnelly, Msgr. Swetland served as the Vice President for Catholic Identity and Director of Pre-Theology at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, MD, where he also held the Archbishop Flynn Chair of Christian Ethics. Msgr. Swetland received his undergraduate degree in Physics from the United States Naval Academy, where he was first in his class academically. Elected a Rhodes Scholar in 1981, he entered the Catholic Church while studying at Oxford and was ordained a priest in 1991. Msgr. Swetland directed Newman Centers at Bradley University and the University of Illinois for many years.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from Oxford University where he studied Politics, Philosophy, and Economics; a Master of Divinity and Master of Arts from Mount St. Mary’s Seminary; and earned his Sacred Theology Licentiate and Sacred Theology Doctorate from the Pontifical Lateran University, in Rome. Msgr. Swetland was named a Prelate of Honor in 2000 by St. John Paul II. He has been awarded two honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters: one from Benedictine College and the other from Walsh University.

In addition to his role at Donnelly, Msgr. Swetland is a Knight Commander for the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre and a fourth-degree Knight of Columbus and was the Executive Secretary for the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars for twenty years. A convert to Catholicism, Monsignor Swetland has hosted for over 20 years various television and radio shows presenting and defending Catholic social teaching. He serves as pastor of Our Lady and St. Rose Catholic Church, and as a chaplain to the local chapters of Legatus and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre in Kansas City, KS.