Fr. John Bartunek, LC, has been appointed as the next territorial director of the Legionaries of Christ in the North American Territory, effective July 1, 2026. Fr. John succeeds Fr. Shawn Aaron, LC, who has completed two consecutive three-year terms as territorial director. In his letter to members of the Congregation announcing Fr. John’s appointment, Fr. Carlos Gutiérrez, LC, general director of the Legionaries of Christ, also named the members of the Territorial Council:
- Territorial Vicar and First Councilor: Fr. Timothy Walsh, LC
- Councilor: Fr. Mark Haydu, LC
- Councilor: Fr. Charles Sikorsky, LC
- Councilor: Fr. Patrick O’Loughlin, LC
Fr. Carlos expressed deep gratitude to Fr. Shawn Aaron, LC, the current territorial director of the North American Territory.
“In a very special way, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Fr. Shawn Aaron, who is now concluding six years of service as territorial director, having also previously served as vicar and territorial councilor, thus completing fifteen years of continuous dedication to the government of the territory. His generous self-giving has contributed significantly to the good of the territory.”
In announcing Fr. John’s appointment as territorial director, Fr. Carlos shared,
“Fr. John is well known throughout the territory and possesses extensive experience in the life and mission of the Congregation. His deep understanding of the territorial reality, his capacity for listening, his clarity of thought, and his communication skills will be invaluable qualities for this moment. He is a priest who values and promotes the life of the Federation, while at the same time knowing how to welcome and understand the diverse sensibilities present within the territory. It is also highly valuable that he participated in the most recent General Chapters and the General Convention of the Regnum Christi Federation. I am confident that, with the support of his council, he will be able to provide the apostolic direction, personal closeness, and decisiveness that are expected of the territorial government today—helping to strengthen communion, clarify our path, and drive forward with renewed vigor the mission that the Lord has entrusted to us.”
About Fr. John Bartunek, LC
Before becoming a Legionary priest, Fr. John received his BA in history from Stanford University in 1990, and worked as a high school history teacher, drama director, and baseball coach, and even spent a year as a professional actor in Chicago. In 1993, however, he heard and followed the call to the priesthood, joining the Legionaries of Christ and subsequently being ordained a priest ten years later in 2003. From 1998 to 2001, he worked in vocations and youth ministry in New England. From 2009 to 2012, he was a professor at the Thornwood Center for Advanced Studies. He earned his doctorate in Moral Theology in 2010, and from 2015 to 2017, he taught at the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum.
Fr. John has taught at various ecclesiastical institutions and has served over the years in many apostolates including the RC Spirituality Center and the Catholic Worldview Fellowship. In his prolific writing apostolate, Fr. John has written and published many online retreat guides, the Uncle Eddy Saint of the Day series, essays, and books including The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer.
For the last six years he has served on the Territorial Council of the Legionaries of Christ, first as a councilor, then as vicar. As vicar, Fr. John also served as a member of the Territorial Directive College (TDC) of Regnum Christi, the body made up of Legionaries, Consecrated Women, and lay members that collectively governs Regnum Christi in North America.
Learn more about Fr. John Bartunek here.
Territorial Vicar and First Councilor: Fr. Timothy Walsh, LC
Fr. Timothy Walsh was born and raised in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada. After studying Physics at Laval University in Quebec, he entered the Legionaries of Christ’s Canadian novitiate. He did his philosophy and theology studies at the Pontifical Atheneum Regina Apostolorum in Rome and was ordained to the priesthood on December 23, 2006. He served in the Legionaries of Christ’s apostolic schools in Indiana and New Hampshire for eleven years and has also worked with Regnum Christi in Cincinnati and Houston. Since July 2020, he has been rector at the Legionaries of Christ Novitiate and College of Humanities in Cheshire, CT.
Councilor: Fr. Mark Haydu, LC
Fr. Mark Haydu started his journey in Akron, OH, being born the sixth child and fourth boy on July 15, 1972. As an active member of the charismatic renewal during high school, Fr Mark went to the Franciscan University of Steubenville, followed by a year of missionary work in Antigua, Guatemala, and Reynosa, Mexico. He entered the novitiate in Cheshire, CT, in 1993 and finished his Humanities degree there in 1996, where he first began to fall in love with Art and History.
After two years of philosophical studies in Rome, he completed four years of apostolic internships in Salamanca, Spain, Dublin, Ireland, and Cheshire, CT. Fr. Mark returned to Rome to get a licentiate degree in Philosophy with a thesis on moral legislation. He then began his Theology studies in 2004, until he was ordained a priest on December 22, 2007. That same year, in October, Fr. Mark became the Director of the Patrons of the Arts of the Vatican Museums, a position he held until June 15, 2015. During that time, Fr. Mark finished a License in Moral Theology focused on the effects of cohabitation on marital happiness and perseverance.
He also published two award-winning art books in the Meditations on Vatican Art series. Fr. Mark enjoyed being a spiritual director for the Legionary seminarians and Consecrated Women of Regnum Christi while in Rome. In 2016, he returned to the States, stationed at the Legionary community in Rye, NY, working as the National Chaplain of the Lumen Institute. He also served as Chief Development Officer for the Legionaries of Christ’s North American Territory. Fr. Mark is currently a local chaplain for Lumen and a territorial councilor for the Legionaries of Christ in the North American Territory. Aside from his prayer and religious life, he enjoys golf, playing guitar, reading, and writing.
Councilor: Fr. Charles Sikorsky, LC
Fr. Charles Sikorsky was born and raised in Baltimore, MD. His first love was sports and after a growth spurt as an adolescent he focused on basketball. He was a member of the 1982 national champion basketball team at his high school, Calvert Hall College of Towson, MD. Fr. Charles went on to obtain a B.A. in Political Economy from Johns Hopkins University where he also played basketball and then earned his law degree from The University of Maryland School of Law. While in law school he became active in the pro-life movement which led to a significant growth in his sacramental life and life of faith.
He entered the Legion of Christ Novitiate in Cheshire, CT in 1992. After professing vows and studying two years of philosophy in Rome, he did his apostolic internship in Santiago de Chile from 1996-2000 as Assistant to the Territorial Administrator for South America. He has degrees in philosophy and theology from the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical University and a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Fr. Charles was ordained to the priesthood in Rome on December 24, 2002.
After working for several years in the Legion’s General Administration in Rome, Fr. Charles was elected as the third president of the Institute for the Psychological Sciences, now Divine Mercy University, in 2007. Since then, he has devoted himself to growing the University’s place in academia, the Church, the United States, and the world. As president, Fr. Charles has been committed to expanding the reach of the university, with an emphasis on forming, educating, and training mental health professionals and those working in the helping professions.
Councilor: Fr. Patrick O’Loughlin, LC
Fr. Patrick O’Loughlin was born on January 15, 1989, in Syracuse, New York, the third of six children. He grew up in a Regnum Christi family and was an ECYD member before entering Immaculate Conception Apostolic School in 2001. He did his novitiate in Cheshire, Connecticut, and received an associate degree in the liberal arts and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in Thornwood, New York. There, he was also assigned as secretary to the territorial director of the Legionaries of Christ in New York for three years. He continued on to serve in the Legionaries’ Ecclesial Relations Department in New York and San Jose, where he also assisted the ECYD sections.
Before transferring to Rome for his theology studies, he served as a dean of students for one year at Sacred Heart Apostolic School in Rolling Prairie, Indiana. He made his final vows in Rome on August 20, 2016, and was ordained to the diaconate together with his father in Syracuse on May 19, 2018. He was subsequently assigned as ECYD Boys Director in Atlanta that same summer, as he prepared for his priestly ordination in Rome on May 4, 2019. He currently serves as director of the ECYD Life Department of Regnum Christi in the Territory of North America, local director of RC Mission Corps, and as a member of the Board of Trustees for Pinecrest Academy in Georgia and for Sacred Heart Apostolic School in Indiana.