Father Robert Conroy

Fr. Robert William Conroy, M.C.

Vicar General
Missionaries of Charity Fathers
Tijuana, Mexico

Childhood and Vocation

  • Born: Minneapolis, Minnesota, on June 1, 1961
  • I lived in different places during my childhood because my father, Dr. Robert Conroy, did his medical training in the army during the Vietnam war. We lived in El Paso, Texas (twice), Maryland, and finally ended up in Topeka, Kansas. My father was a psychiatrist at the Menninger Foundation for many years.
  • I graduated from Washburn Rural High School in Topeka, Kansas, in 1979.
  • I entered the Archdiocese of Kansas City and was sent to St. John Vianney Seminary on the campus of the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. After one year I transferred to St. Meinrad College Seminary in southern Indiana; I graduated in 1983.
  • Archbishop Ignatius Strecker sent me to the North American College in Rome, Italy, for theological studies. Soon after my arrival there I met the Missionaries of Charity sisters and I started volunteering in their homes for the poor. During the summers I lived with the Missionaries of Charity sisters in Dublin, Ireland, and rural Tanzania in Eastern Africa while serving the poorest of the poor. In 1986 I decided to leave the Archdiocese of Kansas City and enter the Missionaries of Charity Fathers in New York. I was ordained a priest for the MC Fathers in Tijuana, Mexico, on January 28, 1989; St. Teresa of Calcutta was present for that special day.
  • I came back to the Archdiocese of Kansas City from 2009-2011 as part of a long sabbatical and discernment period. Archbishop Naumann sent me to serve at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Topeka for about eight months, and then he sent me to Holy Cross Parish in Overland Park as parish administrator. I returned to the Missionaries of Charity Fathers in 2011 and was immediately sent to Guatemala City.

 

Education

  • STD candidate – Pontifical University of Mexico (Mexico City); Spirituality of St. Teresa of Calcutta. (Unfinished thesis)
  • STL – Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), Spiritual Theology. Rome, Italy, 1995. Magna Cum Laude.
  • A. – St. Joseph Seminary, Dogma. Yonkers, New York, 1988. Cum Laude.
  • STB – Pontifical Gregorian University. Rome, Italy, 1986. Cum Laude.
  • A. – St. Meinrad College – Seminary (Major: Philosophy / Minors: Classical Languages and Literature). St. Meinrad, Indiana, 1983.

 

Administrative Responsibilities                                                                      

  • Formator 1989-1992: Tijuana, México
  • Superior – Student House 1992-1996: Rome, Italy
  • Novice Master and Local Superior 1996-2001: Tijuana, México
  • Local Superior 2001-2003: Tamahu’, Guatemala
  • Administrator – Holy Cross Parish 2010-2011: Overland Park, Kansas, USA
  • Local Superior 2013-2016: Guatemala City, Guatemala
  • Local Superior 2016 – 2021: México City, México

 

Special Responsibilities within MC Fathers

  • Councilor 1994-1999.
  • Vicar General 1999-2003.
  • Superior-General 2003-2008.
  • Vicar General 2022-2028

Service to the Diocese of Tijuana, Mexico 

  • Presbiteral Council 1996-1999.

 

Prison Ministry 

  • Penitenciaría de La Mesa (El Pueblito) 1989-1992: Tijuana, México
  • Carcere Rebibbia 1993-1996: Rome, Italy
  • Shawnee County Jail 2010: Topeka, Kansas, USA
  • Preventivo de Hombres y Mujeres 2011-2016: Guatemala City, Guatemala
  • El Centro Varonil de Rehabilitación Psicosocial – Reclusorio Sur 2017-2018: México City

 

Ministry to Priests and Religious 

  • Retreats, conferences, seminars, talks in more than 30 countries, 1993-present

 

Special Projects 

  • Rectoría of San Pablo in Tamahú, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. The church, according to local tradition, was built in the 16th century by Spanish Dominicans, but it had been mostly abandoned by the diocese prior to our arrival in 2001 due to extreme poverty in the area; there are 28 smaller villages and chapels associated with the main church. Several ethnic groups populate the area—Poq’omchiis, Q’eq’chiis, and Ladinos (mestizos). My religious community was invited to revive the mission, and, while the peace accords in Guatemala ending the internal war were signed in 1996, the area was still recovering from the effects of violence at our arrival. I was sent as the superior, along with another priest and several seminarians, and my personal focus was on reviving the Poq’omchii community; I helped in the restarting of a few chapels, the organization of a weaving project for native women, the opening of a small medical clinic and pre-primary school, as well as other civil and religious projects benefitting the small native community.   
  • Co-founder of Casa Madre Teresa (2014) (night shelter for men) and Casa Padre José, MC, (2015) (soup kitchen) in Guatemala City. These charities are located a short distance from the city dump and serve destitute men who suffer from drug and alcohol addictions and live on the streets of the city. About 150 men come to eat daily in the soup kitchen, while 10-15 remain at night in the shelter.
  • Co-founder of the Father Joseph Langford, M.C., Study Center, 2016: Tijuana, Mexico. The goal of the center is to create a favorable environment for theological and spiritual investigation of the writings of our co-founder, Fr. Joseph Langford, MC, and our foundress, St. Teresa of Calcutta, via personal study, articles and books.
  • Centro P. Jose, MC, Center of Evangelization and Outreach to the Poor – Mexico City, 2018. Several donated buildings dedicated to retreats and conferences on the spirituality of the Missionaries of Charity, plus a soup kitchen and pharmacy for women and children. I encouraged and supported the foundation of this project, and I have continued to serve in an advisory position until now.
  • Casa Madre Teresa – México City, 2016-present. I have helped and supported the renewal of the soup kitchen and the creation of a night shelter. During the pandemic CMT went from serving around 75-150 men per day to over 600. There is a large homeless population in Mexico City and CMT serves the diverse group that arrives daily, including Central American migrants, homeless, drug addicts, alcoholics, unemployed, families, the elderly, etc.  The night shelter welcomes 20 men each day.

Publications

  • Conroy, Robert. (1989) “Evangelization in Tijuana, Mexico.” This Rock Magazine.
  • Conroy, Robert. (2009). “The Feminine Genius of Mary Ward and Calcutta’s Teresa,” Review for Religious, 68.1, Quarterly, 49-60.
  • Conroy, Robert. (2002). “The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Mother Teresa of Calcutta:  The Years 1928-1948,” Positio for the Beatification of Mother Teresa. (Internal Use)
  • Conroy, Robert. (2019) “The MC Charism- Historical Overview and Theological Development” (Patrimonial Commission). (Internal publication – 34 pages) / This paper was written for my religious community as an explanation of our charism.
  • Conroy, Robert. (2020) ‘La Peste’ (The Plague). SOHUM – Sociedad Humana – Primera Edicion – Ser Humano, Mayo 2020. / Online Mexican journal for human development – http://sohum.mx /   / This article reflects on the pandemic from the existentialist point of view found in the 1947 classic, The Plague, by Albert Camus.
  • Conroy, Robert. (2021) “El Costo de la Amistad” (The Cost of Friendship).  SOHUM – Sociedad Humana – Primer Aniversario – Te Escucho:  Juntos Co-Creamos Esta Realidad, Mayo 2021. http://sohum.mx/  This article considers the nature of friendship in light of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s prophetic work, The Cost of Discipleship, and a personal experience of the author in Tanzania.

 

Books

  • Conroy, Robert. (2015). Editor. Spiritual Annotations. Commemorative Essays in Honor of Fr. Joseph, MC 1951-2010. Tijuana, Mexico:  Missionaries of Charity Fathers, 2015. (Internal publication – 102 pages)
  • Conroy, Robert. Beata Teresa de Calcuta y El Sacramento de la Confesión. Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala: Ediciones San Pablo, 2014. / This is a 24-page Spanish language guide for confession based on the writings and spirituality of St. Teresa of Calcutta.
  • Conroy, Robert. MC Spiritual Exercises:  A Journey into the Heart of the Charism of the Missionaries of Charity /30-Day Retreat. First Edition 2020 / Second Edition 2021. Mexico City, Mexico:  Missionaries of Charity Fathers. (Internal publication – 140 pages)
  • Conroy, Robert. MC Spiritual Exercises:  A Journey into the Heart of the Charism of the Missionaries of Charity – A Manual for Use with the MC Spiritual Exercises.  First Edition 2020 / Second Edition 2021. Mexico City, Mexico: Missionaries of Charity Fathers. (Internal publication – 103 pages)
  • Langford, Joseph. Editor – Robert Conroy. Window in the Heart of God. Tijuana, México: Missionaries of Charity Fathers, 2015. (Internal – awaiting official publication – 162 pages)
  • Langford, Joseph. I Thirst – 40 days with Mother Teresa. Greenwood Village, Colorado: Augustine Institute, 2018. / A collaborative effort with the Augustine Institute.

Pastoral Letters

  • 2004-2008 Letters written for the five branches of the Missionary of Charity family around the world published three times a year.

 

Television

  • Interviewed by EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network) (2006). The program, “The Missionaries of Charity Fathers and Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta”, was recorded in Los Angeles, California, USA. The interview reappears on EWTN each year to commemorate St. Teresa of Calcutta’s anniversary of death on September 5.