Fr. John Bartunek, LC, S.Th.D, received his BA in History from Stanford University in 1990. He comes from an evangelical Christian background and became a member of the Catholic Church in 1991. After college, he worked as a high school history teacher, drama director, and baseball coach. He then spent a year as a professional actor in Chicago before entering the religious Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ in 1993. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 2003 and earned his doctorate in moral theology in 2010.
He provided spiritual support on the set of Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ while researching the 2005 Catholic best seller, Inside the Passion, the only authorized, behind-the-scenes explanation of the film. Fr. John has contributed news commentary regarding religious issues on NBC, CNN, Fox, and the BBC. He also served as the English-language press liaison for the Vatican’s 2005 Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist.
His most widely known books are The Better Part: A Christ-Centered Resource for Personal Prayer and 60 Days to Becoming a Missionary Disciple.
His most recent book is Spiritual But Not Religious: The Search for Meaning in a Material World.
Fr. John resides in Atlanta and serves as Territorial Vicar for the Legionaries of Christ.
Dear Nigel, Now is the time to correct your faults, my pusillanimous nephew – while they are still correctable. Remember what our Lord said, “The person who is trustworthy in
Dear Mimie, I am glad you have finally been able to choose a major. As you know, I was lobbying for it to be philology, but I am not opposed
Dear Anthony, Heaven will be full of surprises. Among them will be the truth about history. You and I, as history lovers, will be much gratified by the heavenly version
Dear Paco, I was able to see the tape of your debate with the fundamentalists. Quite impressive. You obviously did your homework. Congratulations. Nevertheless, as your devoted uncle, I have
Dear Pete, Your latest plea for advice reminded me of those vapid songs from the seventies, which gloat in mistaking mere feelings for true virtue. You are an artist; you
Dear Jake, Beware the enervating touch of activism! Yes indeed, my dear nephew, it is quite clear to me from your recent communiqués that you are falling prey to one
Dear Ed, Stay away from people like that. When they start to enjoy criticizing bishops, they will soon go in for criticizing popes. When that happens, they almost inevitably get
Dear Hillary, Nothing should surprise you less than what you described in your last note. Do you think the devil just stands idly by while someone like yourself – who
Dear Polly, If you lay in the sun long enough you can easily get burned without even noticing. The delightful warmth of the rays, the constant rumbling of the waves,
Alex Kucera has lived in Atlanta, GA, for the last 46 years. He is one of 9 children, married to his wife Karmen, and has 3 girls, one grandson, and a granddaughter on the way. Alex joined Regnum Christi in 2007. Out of the gate, he joined the Helping Hands Medical Missions apostolate and is still participating today with the Ghana Friendship Mission.
In 2009, Alex was asked to be the Atlanta RC Renewal Coordinator for the Atlanta Locality to help the RC members with the RC renewal process. Alex became a Group Leader in 2012 for four of the Atlanta Men’s Section Teams and continues today. Running in parallel, in 2013, Alex became a Team Leader and shepherded a large team of good men.
Alex was honored to be the Atlanta Mission Coordinator between 2010 to 2022 (12 years), coordinating 5-8 Holy Week Mission teams across Georgia. He also created and coordinated missions at a parish in Athens, GA, for 9 years. Alex continues to coordinate Holy Week Missions, Advent Missions, and Monthly missions at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Cumming, GA.
From 2016 to 2022, Alex also served as the Men’s Section Assistant in Atlanta. He loved working with the Men’s Section Director, the Legionaries, Consecrated, and Women’s Section leadership teams.
Alex is exceptionally grateful to the Legionaries, Consecrated, and many RC members who he’s journeyed shoulder to shoulder, growing his relationship with Christ and others along the way. He knows that there is only one way, that’s Christ’s Way, with others!
