2025 Spring Conference 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.
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.
Stephen A. Hipp, S.T.D.
Stephen A. Hipp, S.T.D., is Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Christendom College Graduate School of Theology. Dr. Hipp completed his graduate work in Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, and his Doctorate of Sacred Theology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He taught at Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD, the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. He is the author of several books, including The One Church of Christ: Understanding Vatican II. Currently he lives in Front Royal, VA with his wife, Daniela, and is the father of five children, two of whom are officers in the Marine Corps.
Father Edward Nemeth
Fr. Nemeth earned Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Masters in Divinity, and Master of Arts in Theology degrees in the Seminary, afterwhich he was ordained a priest by Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, then Archbishop of Saint Louis, on May 24, 2008. Fr. Nemeth’s early priesthood brought him to work with several financially burdened Missouri parishes and schools, helping them to become thriving, authentically Catholic establishments with sound financial futures. In 2024 Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke asked Fr. Nemeth to join the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse, Wisconsin as Executive Director. His Eminence felt that Fr. Nemeth’s experience would help assist the Shrine in its latest project to construct the St. Juan Diego Pilgrim House and prepare the Shrine to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Our Lady’s appearance to St. Juan Diego in Mexico.
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..