2027 Speakers
Clergy, scholars, and artists gather in Bend to help us behold the glory of God in Scripture, sacrament, and sacred art.
Bishop Thomas J. Hennen
Bishop Thomas J. Hennen is the seventh Bishop of Baker. A native of Ottumwa, Iowa, and the youngest of eleven children, he studied history and philosophy at St. Ambrose University before earning a Bachelor of Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Alphonsian Academy in Rome. Ordained a priest for the Diocese of Davenport in 2004, he served as director of vocations, vicar general, and pastor and rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral. Pope Leo XIV named him Bishop of Baker on July 10, 2025, and he was ordained and installed on September 29, 2025. He speaks English, Spanish, and Italian.
Bishop Daniel H. Mueggenborg
Bishop Daniel H. Mueggenborg is the Bishop of Reno. Born and raised in rural western Oklahoma, he graduated from Oklahoma State University in 1984 with degrees in geology and computer science, then studied at St. Meinrad Seminary and the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Tulsa in 1989 and earned a Licentiate in Biblical Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1990.
In more than thirty years as a priest he has served as pastor, high school chaplain and teacher, Newman Center chaplain, Director of Clergy and Education, and Vicar for Religious, and he taught at the Gregorian University while on the staff of the North American College. Pope Francis named him Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle in 2017 and Bishop of Reno in 2021. He comes from a farming and ranching family and loves the outdoors: he has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, hiked the Grand Canyon, and walked much of the Camino de Santiago.
Nathan Schmiedicke, PhD
Nathan Schmiedicke, PhD, is Professor of Biblical Exegesis at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary (FSSP) in Denton, NE, to which he commutes fourteen weeks a year. When not teaching, he lives on his family’s farm in Michigan with his wife Wendy, raising organic crops, animals, and their children. He teaches online for Holy Apostles College and Seminary and for monks at Silverstream Priory (Ireland) and Norcia (Italy). His book The Bible’s Foundation: A Catholic Commentary on the Pentateuch explores how the Bible’s dramatic, symbolic, and epic literary modes convey sacramental action (Hebrews 4:12). He is currently writing The Gospel of She: How Woman is Mother of the Bible and Death of the Devil, examining the formative influence of the feminine reading of the protoevangelium (Gen 3:15b) on the rest of Scripture.
Lynne Bissonnette‑Pitre, MD, PhD
Lynne Bissonnette-Pitre, MD, PhD, LGCHS, is a psychiatrist, musician, and iconographer. She has lectured nationally, led retreats, and has been organizing the Sacred Liturgy Conferences since 2013. She currently serves on the Holy Alliance of the Catholic Medical Association. She teaches classes on sacred scripture, iconography, and Gregorian Chant and is a Dame Grand Cross of the Knights and Dames of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. She is also the co-founder and director of Schola Cantus Angelorum and is the Executive Director of the Sacred Liturgy Conference.
Fr. Brad Elliott, OP, STD
Fr. Brad Elliott, OP, spent ten years as a professional drum set player before discerning a call to dedicate his life entirely to Jesus Christ. He left the music industry to enter the Western Dominican Province and, after completing theological studies, was ordained to the priesthood on June 22, 2018, at St. Dominic’s Church. In 2014, Fr. Brad received a Master’s degree in philosophy from the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California. In 2021, he earned a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. He later completed his Doctorate in Sacred Theology at The Catholic University of America, focusing on the role of human craft and participatory governance in the Church’s social doctrine. Fr. Brad currently serves as Professor of Moral Theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, California.
Fr. Pius X Harding, OSB
Fr. Pius X Harding, OSB, is a Benedictine monk and priest of Mount Angel Abbey in St. Benedict, Oregon, ordained to the priesthood in 1993. At the Abbey he has served as manager of the Benedictine Press, as guest master of the Saint Benedict Guesthouse and Retreat Center, and as director of the Abbey’s oblates. He later served the Diocese of Helena, Montana, as administrator of St. Joseph Parish in Libby, Immaculate Conception Mission in Troy, and Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Eureka, before being called back to the Abbey in 2025. “Everyone who comes to the Abbey,” he has said, “arrives as a pilgrim.”
Fr. Joseph Levine
Fr. Joseph Levine pursued his vocation to the priesthood after graduating from Thomas Aquinas College and was ordained on September 14, 2010, for the Diocese of Baker. He currently serves as pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Burns, Oregon. Fr. Levine is the author of The Stone Rejected by the Builders: Some Uncommon Reflections on Social Justice, which examines social justice through the fundamental relationships revealed in Genesis and emphasizes the primacy of right worship. He is also working on a new book, Foreigner in a Strange Land: Reflections on Continuity and Rupture in Vatican II and the Post-Conciliar Church. A key advisor to the Sacred Liturgy Conference, Fr. Levine contributes to its mission of promoting the Church’s liturgical life and worship.
Fr. Joshua Clifton
Fr. Joshua Clifton was born and raised in San Luis Obispo, CA. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and from Mount Angel Seminary. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Monterey in 2012. Father Clifton has ministered as a priest at several churches in California, including Madonna del Sasso Church in Salinas, Holy Trinity Parish in Greenfield, St. Patrick’s Parish in Watsonville, Our Lady of Refuge Parish in Castroville, and Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in Santa Cruz. He currently resides in the Archdiocese of Portland where he serves as the administrator of St. Birgitta Catholic Church in Portland and St. Mary Catholic Church in Vernonia.
Fr. Theodore Lange
Fr. Theodore Lange is a priest of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon. He was appointed a Missionary of Mercy by Pope Francis in 2016 and serves as State Chaplain for the Knights of Columbus. His past assignments include formation director, adjunct professor, and assistant to the director of spiritual formation at Mount Angel Seminary; chaplain and teacher at Marist Catholic High School in Eugene; prison chaplain; and parochial vicar at Shepherd of the Valley and Our Lady of Fatima. He has preached numerous retreats and days of reflection throughout the Archdiocese. He currently serves as parochial vicar at St. Anthony Parish in Tigard.
Mark Langley
Mark Langley is the founder and academic dean of The Lyceum, a classical Catholic school in South Euclid, Ohio. A 1989 graduate of Thomas Aquinas College, he has spent more than twenty-five years in Catholic education as a headmaster, dean, teacher, organist, and choral conductor, and he directs the music at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in South Euclid. A longtime advocate of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony in Catholic schools, he has spoken on “Building a School of Singers: The Schola Cantorum as an Integral Part of the Catholic School.” He writes at the Lion & Ox blog. He and his wife, Stephanie, have twelve children.