2026 Formation Day Speakers
His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke
Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke serves as both Director of the Marian Catechist Apostolate and President of the Board of Directors for the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. He assisted Servant of God Father John A. Hardon, S.J. in the formation of the Apostolate, and assumed leadership of the Apostolate at the request of Father Hardon, who reached his eternal rest on December 30, 2000. His Eminence looks forward to the many opportunities for interaction with current and future members of the Apostolate at the 2025 Spring Conference.
Father Zachary Edgar
Fr. Zachary Edgar was Ordained to the Priesthood in 2012 for the Diocese of Springfield-in-Illinois after 6 years of study at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis. He has served as Master of Ceremonies at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe for Cardinal Burke since 2010, and was hired full time as the Director of Sacred Liturgy for the Shrine in March 2024. Fr. Edgar is a proud native of Mother of Dolors Parish in Vandalia, IL..
Monsignor Roger J. Scheckel – Marian Catechist Spiritual Advisor
Monsignor Roger J. Scheckel was born and raised near Wauzeka, Wisconsin on the family dairy/hog farm with his parents and four siblings. He attended Wauzeka Public Grade School and Holy Crosse Seminary High School in La Crosse until it closed in 1971. He enrolled at Saint Francis De Sales High School Seminary in Milwaukee, graduating in 1973. After studying for two years at Saint Francis College Seminary in Milwaukee, he was awarded the Basselin scholarship to study Philosophy at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., receiving bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Philosophy. He studied at the School of Theology at CUA, receiving a bachelor’s degree in theology in 1983. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1984 for the Diocese of La Crosse by Bishop John J. Paul. He has served as a pastor in the Diocese of La Crosse since 1987, in Monroe County, the City of La Crosse and presently as the pastor of Saint Mary of the Assumption Parish in Richland Center.
Deacon Patrick Brueggen
Patrick began his formation with the Marian Catechist Apostolate in the late 1990s and was
consecrated as a Marian Catechist in 2001 by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke. For
more than two decades, he has taught the Marian Catechist program in numerous parishes,
helping to form adults in the Catholic faith.
Committed to ongoing formation, Patrick has pursued additional studies through Viterbo
University, the Lay Formation Institute, and Franciscan University. He entered the Permanent
Diaconate Formation Program in the fall of 2021 and, after completing five years of formation,
was ordained a Permanent Deacon for the Diocese of La Crosse on June 6, 2026, by Bishop
Gerard Battersby.
In March 2022, His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke appointed Patrick as the
International Coordinator of the Marian Catechist Apostolate and the National Coordinator of the
Real Presence Eucharistic Education and Adoration Association. In these roles, he also oversees
the administration of the Blessed Carlo Acutis Eucharistic Miracles Exhibition at the Shrine of
Our Lady of Guadalupe near La Crosse, Wisconsin.