Graduation 2026

The John Paul II Institute honored its graduates for the 2025-26 academic year at a Graduation Mass celebrated on May 12.

Bishop John S. Bonicci of Rochester, NY, himself a 1996 graduate of the Institute’s S.T.D. program, was the principal celebrant and homilist. At the end of Mass, Bishop Bonicci and Patrick E. Kelly, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus and Chairman of the Institute’s Board of Governors, recognized each graduate with the awarding of an academic hood.

Institute Provost Rev. Antonio López, F.S.C.B., closed the celebration with remarks to the graduates (full text) on the nature of theology and the relationship of beauty to holiness. 

The 2026 recipient of the Susan M. Shaughnessy Award, which honors an outstanding M.T.S. graduate, was Kate Cailteux.

Graduating Class of 2026

 For the Degree of Ph.D. in Theology

 Geena Mary V. Sankoorikal

For the Degree of Licentiate in Sacred Theology

 Rev. Khanh Le                                 

Rev. Nicholas Nanji Ngoh

Rev. Tyler Mentzer, MIC            

Rev. Michael Vincent Villavicencio

For the Degree of Master of Theological Studies

 William Paul Bednarz

Kate Cailteux

Joan Elizabeth Therese Crawford

Anna Haggard

Sr. Magdaline Masai

Dixon Rodriguez

Savannah Willard