A seminary Scripture professor and a college campus minister, both monks of Saint Vincent Archabbey, will team up to continue the Sunday Scripture homily column that appears on the Archabbey website as well as in several regional newspapers, including The Catholic Accent of the Diocese of Greensburg. Father Edward M. Mazich, O.S.B., assistant professor of Biblical Languages, Sacred Scripture and Systematic Theology at Saint Vincent Seminary, and Father Killian R. Loch, O.S.B., director of campus ministry at Saint Vincent College, will take over the column at the start of the Lenten season.
They will continue the column started in 1998 by two monks of the archabbey, Father Campion P. Gavaler, O.S.B., and the late Father Demetrius R. Dumm, O.S.B, following the death of Father Demetrius, on November 17, 2013. The column at saintvincentarchabbey.org was reproduced widely on dozens of Catholic websites. It has been appearing in Jednota, newspaper of the First Catholic Slovak Union since that time, and has been in The Catholic Accent in more recent years. Archabbey Publications of Latrobe is compiling those writings into a series of three books that will be available this summer.
Father Edward, of Danville, has a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from Penn State University, a master of arts degree in theology from Saint Vincent Seminary, received a licentiate degree after studying at the Biblicum and at the Gregorian University in Rome, and earned a doctorate from the University of Oxford in Great Britain.
Father Killian, of Wilkes-Barre, has a bachelor of arts degree in English from the University of Scranton in 1975; a master of divinity degree in theology from Saint John Seminary, Brighton, Massachusetts and a master of education degree in administration from Boston College in 1989. He was a priest of the Diocese of Scranton prior to joining the monastic community at Saint Vincent in 2010.
Father Edward was ordained in 2001. He previously served as president of the Saint Benedict Education Foundation, which raises funds for the international Benedictine University in Rome, Sant’ Anselmo, as well as novice master of the monastic community. He began serving on the seminary faculty in 2007, teaching Sacred Scripture. He is also director of human formation.
While serving as a priest in the Diocese of Scranton, Father Killian was director of religious formation for two years and spent five years as principal of a diocesan high school; worked in three pastoral assignments; served as regional vicar for the diocese and was vicar for priests for the diocese. He was appointed director of campus ministry at Saint Vincent College in 2011. Father Killian has been active in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, serving as chairman of its National Service Committee and a member.