Marianist Brother Bernard Ploeger
The former president of Chaminade University of Honolulu, Marianist Brother Bernard Ploeger, has been appointed assistant provincial of the Marianist Province of the United States.
The new provincial is Marianist Father Oscar Vasquez. They, plus five additional members of the provincial council will take office on Aug. 1.
The council members were chosen following a formal consultation process involving the brothers and priests of the Marianist Province of the United States.
In Hawaii, the Marianists sponsor Chaminade University, Saint Louis School and St. Anthony School, Maui.
Father Vasquez, 54, is a native of San Antonio, Texas. He professed first vows in 1987 and was ordained in 2005. He currently is ministering in St. Louis, Missouri, as chaplain at Chaminade College Preparatory and assistant pastor at Our Lady of the Pillar Parish.
Brother Ploeger, 69, was raised in Cincinnati. He professed first vows in 1967. He has served as a professor and vice president of administration at the University of Dayton, and most recently as president of Chaminade University.
Marianist Father Oscar Vasquez
The provincial and assistant provincial serve five-year terms, with a possible three-year extension.
The other members of the council are Father Timothy Kenney, assistant for religious life; Brother Jesse O’Neill, assistant for education; Brother Joseph Markel, assistant for temporalities; Brother Charles Johnson, councilor; and Father Charles (Kip) Stander, councilor.
The Marianist Provincial Council is based in St. Louis, Missouri. The Society of Mary (Marianists) is an international Catholic religious order of priests and brothers, with about 270 serving in the Province of the United States. Members of the Province also serve in Eastern Africa, India, Ireland and Mexico.
In the United States, the Marianists sponsor three universities — the University of Dayton in Dayton, Ohio; St. Mary’s University in San Antonio; and Chaminade University of Honolulu — as well as 19 secondary and middle schools, six parishes and four retreat centers.
