Q&A: Fr. Joseph-Anthony Kress, O.P.
Q&A: Fr. Joseph-Anthony Kress, O.P.
Associate Director, Dominican Friars Foundation
By Praedicare Staff
Welcome to New York City, Father! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
I grew up in a small town in southeast Ohio (St. Clairsville) with my two older sisters. I attended Franciscan University at Steubenville and spent the first two years there as a seminarian for the Diocese of Steubenville and then stayed to finish my undergraduate degree. I met the Dominicans at Franciscan — one of my professors was a Dominican friar. I joined the Dominican novitiate the summer after graduating, was ordained to the priesthood in 2016, and then was assigned to be the chaplain at the University of Virginia. I have been in Charlottesville up to this point, almost eight years.
What will you be doing here in NYC?
Great question! I have a new assignment in many respects, not just for me personally, but also for the province. I will be devoting around half of my time to serving as the Promoter of the Holy Rosary for the Province of St. Joseph, which is a significant investment into itinerant preaching that the province hasn’t done in decades. I will also be assisting the Dominican Friars Foundation as the Associate Director, raising support for our brothers in formation and for several of our exciting ministries, including the Dominican Rosary Pilgrimage and the Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary.
What is the Dominican Friars Foundation?
The Foundation supports the life and mission of the friars of the Province of St. Joseph. That includes formation costs for young men at the early stages, which ensures that we continue to have friars ready to serve in our parishes, campus ministries, and other apostolates, as well as support for our retired friars who have spent their lives serving Christ and following the life of St. Dominic, and direct financial support for several ministries of the province.
Why is the work of the Dominican Friars Foundation and of the Province so important?
I believe that truth has become suspect for many people, not just as a concept, but as a lived experience. As Dominican friars, we live our lives to preach the Truth who is Jesus Christ himself. You see the Latin word Veritas plastered over everything we do. That’s an ancient reminder to us as friars of how the Lord created each and every one of us in his image and likeness. We need to be unafraid of that. More than ever we need our friars to be in those places where truth is being questioned, to be in our campus ministries, to be in our parishes, and to be heavily involved in theological and academic ministries—to be a guiding light for that truth.
We’re often asking people to explain why they support the Dominicans and how God has blessed them through their relationship with the Dominicans. You have supported the Dominicans by the gift of your whole life! Do you have any stories about how the Dominicans have blessed your life or the life of someone you know?
As a chaplain, you see a little bit of everything. You see it in the students’ lives, you see the ripple effectin to their parents and their families’ lives. You see it by hospital bedsides too. The reality is, our hearts are made for God. We are made from him and we are returning back to him. I’ve seen people encounter the Lord. I’ve seen them change their own patterns of life and behavior. I’ve seen them receive his mercy and love at a crisis of their life when no one else would enter into it, but then there’s a friar—there’s the Lord—entering into those moments. There are countless encounters. I could talk to you for hours about those moments.
What are you looking forward to over the course of this assignment?
I’m a people person. I love hearing peoples’ stories and I love being a part of their journey. I think this new assignment will be a different style of life for me, but humanity is always the same no matter where you are.
Finally, do you have any final words for the people?
It’s simple. It’s not easy, but it’s simple—you love Jesus above all. He gives you strength, and this doesn’t mean it takes away the suffering, but he gives you his presence and accompaniment, and he typically does that through good people in your life.
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Photo by Jeffrey Bruno
The Dominican Foundation of Dominican Friars Province of St. Joseph, Inc. is a NY State tax-exempt corporation under section 501(c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code, with
Tax ID # 26-3273636.