Father Toups is a priest of the Diocese of St. Petersburg in Florida. He attended St. John Vianney College Seminary in Miami were he obtained a B.A. degree (Philosophy and Theology) in 1993. He then attended the Pontifical North American College in Rome receiving an S.T.B and S.T.L. in Dogmatic Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained a priest on June 14, 1997. After completing his studies, he was assigned as parochial vicar of St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Spring Hill, Florida for four years. During this time, he also served as a member of the Diocesan Presbyteral Council, the Regional Seat on National Board of the NFPC (National Federation of Priests’ Councils), and as an observer for Region IV to the USCCB General Assembly for the years 2000-2002.
From 2002-2004, Father Toups returned to Rome for doctoral studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum). Upon his completion of the Doctorate in Sacred Theology, he was appointed Assistant Dean of Students at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida, where he also taught Liturgy and Sacraments. The following year he was appointed Dean, a position he held until being assigned in 2007 to the position of Associate Director of the newly formed Committee of Clergy, Consecrated Life, and Vocations at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C.
He is responsible for a number of articles and has recently authored a book entitled Reclaiming Our Priestly Character, published by the Institute for Priestly Formation in January 2008.
Father W. Shawn McKnight, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish in Wichita, Kansas, has been named head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations.
Father McKnight, who is 41, will assume his USCCB position in July 2010, succeeding Father David Toups, interim secretariat director. Msgr. David Malloy, USCCB General Secretary, made the appointment.
Father McKnight brings extraordinary background to the position, Msgr. Malloy said. In addition to parish work, his experience includes years in seminary formation, education of deacons, college chaplaincy and membership on his diocesan presbyteral council. I am grateful that Bishop Michael Jackels of Wichita is permitting him to serve the U.S. bishops in this national position.
Father McKnight is the son of Mary Elizabeth (OReilly) and the late William Thomas McKnight and is the oldest of eight siblings. He was ordained a priest for the Wichita Diocese in 1994.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from the University of Dallas, Master of Arts and Master of Theology degrees from the Pontifical College Josephinun in Columbus, Ohio, and licentiate and doctoral degrees in theology from the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm, in Rome.
Father McKnight taught graduate studies at the Josephinum, 2003-2008, where he also served as Director of Liturgy, Dean of Students, Director of Formation in the school of theology and Vice-president for Development and Alumni Relations. He currently serves on the faculty of the St. Meinrad Permanent Deacon Formation Program.
He served as chaplain at Newman University in Wichita, 2000-2001, where at the same time he was an adjunct professor of theology and visiting scholar at the universitys Bishop Gerber Institute of Catholic Studies.
Father McKnight has been published in the Deacon Reader and the Newman Review and has spoken at assemblies of the National Association of Deacon Directors, National Diaconate Institute for Continuing Education as well as at arch/diocesan programs in Wichita; Wheeling, West Virginia; Lafayette-in-Indiana; Houston; Ogdensburg, New York; Phoenix; Denver; Charleston, South Carolina; and Dodge City, Kansas.
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