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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2009 

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
OFFICE OF COMMUNICATION
603-669-3100, EXT. 185

DIOCESAN PRIEST NAMED PRESIDENT AND CEO OF SAINT LUKE INSTITUTE

(MANCHESTER, NH) The Rev. Edward J. Arsenault, a priest of the Diocese of Manchester, has been named the new president and CEO of Saint Luke Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland. Fr. Arsenault will succeed Monsignor Stephen J. Rossetti, who is planning to step down October 20, 2009.

Saint Luke Institute is an internationally recognized residential and outpatient treatment and education center serving the health needs of hundreds of Catholic priests and religious women and men throughout the United States each year. Saint Luke Institute also sponsors with the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales the Saint Luke's Centre in Manchester, England, the first treatment center of its type in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Both the Institute and the Centre will be under the direction of Fr. Arsenault.

Fr. Arsenault said, “I see ministry at St. Luke Institute as an opportunity to contribute to the ongoing health and wellbeing of clergy and religious from the United States and beyond. Msgr. Rossetti has developed a gifted and generous board of directors and a fine clinical, pastoral and administrative staff who bring the gift of the Lord’s healing to the lives of many people each day.  I look forward to joining them in this important work of the Church.”
 
Bishop John B. McCormack said of the appointment, “Father Ed will be an excellent director for both the Saint Luke Institute and the Centre. He is a fine priest, a gifted administrator and a natural leader. These qualities will enable him to continue the quality of service long equated with the fine work of Saint Luke. I know that I and many others will miss his presence in our diocese. Yet his presence at the Institute will benefit our Church greatly through the service provided to our brothers and sisters who have dedicated their lives to the Lord.”

Ordained in 1991, Fr. Arsenault has spent the last 14 years in both pastoral work and diocesan administration, most recently as Moderator of the Curia and Secretary for Administration in the Diocese of Manchester. In this capacity, Fr. Arsenault worked often with Msgr. Rossetti and the staff of St. Luke.

He has also served in parish ministry in Nashua, Bedford, and Manchester, including as pastor of Saint Pius X Parish, Manchester. During the period of his diocesan ministry, Fr. Arsenault provided weekend assistance to pastors around the diocese.

Fr. Arsenault has also been deeply involved in Catholic healthcare ministry in the Diocese of Manchester. He was Bishop John B. McCormack’s delegate to the Catholic Healthcare System Board of Governors and as well as the bishop’s delegate on the Catholic Medical Center Board of Directors.

Alyson Pitman Giles, FACHE, President and CEO of CMC Healthcare and 2007 Chairman of the American College of Healthcare Executives, said, “I had the great fortune to work with Father Arsenault as a trustee of Catholic Medical Center and as the Chairman of CMC Healthcare System for over a decade. He is a mentor, and has both the intellectual and emotional brilliance to understand and advise about governance, physician, staff and community relationships, and the church's role in Catholic Healthcare."

During his tenure as the Delegate for Ministerial Conduct in the Diocese of Manchester, Fr. Arsenault assisted Bishop McCormack in establishing a diocesan review board and in developing a comprehensive sexual misconduct policy, code of ministerial conduct and a safe environment training program for church personnel. 

Fr. Arsenault served as the chairman of the Board of Directors for the National Catholic Risk Retention Group, a captive insurance company in Lisle, IL, between 1998 and 2007. During his tenure as chair, Fr. Arsenault oversaw the development and implementation of the VIRTUS program, including the nationally recognized “Protecting God’s Children” safe environment program used in dioceses and religious institutes across the United States.

Fr. Arsenault received his Bachelor of Arts in History and Philosophy from Merrimack College, Andover, MA. He holds a Master of Science in Finance from Bentley University, Waltham, MA, a Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Theology from Mount Saint Mary’s University and Seminary, Emmitsburg, MD. He also has a Pontifical License in Sacred Theology (STL) from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology, Cambridge, MA.

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The Diocese of Manchester is the Roman Catholic Church of New Hampshire, serving the needs of more than 300,000 Catholics.  For more information, please visit www.catholicnh.org .