Pope Francis names two alumni of DSPT as Bishops

Please pray for our alumni who were recently named as Bishops by Pope Francis.

Father Steven Maekawa, O.P. , Bishop Elect, Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska

Father Steven Maekawa, O.P., is a priest of the Dominican Province of the Holy Name of Jesus, and the current pastor of Holy Family Old Cathedral in Anchorage, Alaska.

Father Maekawa received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Washington in 1990, and a Master of Divinity in 1998 from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkley, California. He took his profession of vows for the Order of Preachers on September 14, 1991 and was ordained to the priesthood on May 29, 1998 at St. Augustine Church in Oakland, California.

Bishop-elect Maekawa’s pastoral assignments after ordination include: parochial vicar at St. Dominic Church in San Francisco, California, 1998-2002; director of the Newman Center at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, 2002-2005; prior at St. Dominic Priory (Novitiate) in San Francisco, California, 2005-2007 and 2012-2016; and director of vocations for the Western Dominican Province, 2007-2015. Since 2016, he has served as pastor at Holy Family Old Cathedral in Anchorage, Alaska.

Father Matthew Elshoff, OFM Cap: Bishop Elect- Auxiliary Bishop for Archdiocese of Los Angeles

Father Matthew Elshoff is a Capuchin Franciscan friar who is a licensed marriage and family therapist. Originally from Cincinnati, he studied at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California before making his perpetual profession as a Capuchin in 1979 at the age of 23. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1982.

The Franciscan friar holds a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from the California Family Study Center and received his license in marriage and family therapy in 1990. He spent time as a high school campus minister, vocations director, and novice master before becoming the provincial minister at St. Francis of Assisi Friary in Burlingame in 2008. He is currently the pastor of St. Lawrence of Brindisi Church in Los Angeles.