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 Madge, I think your dilemma may be less thorny than you suspect, for two reasons. First, even though your foresight is commendable, there’s no reason you have to make
Dear Stacy, Ah, you have touched on one of the great mysteries of the spiritual life. What to your mind (and my mind as well) appears to be a contradiction
Dear Seth, I knew this would happen. I told you from the start that this summer theological seminar looked suspicious (its location clued me in; why go to the Bahamas
Dear Yo, It’s nice to know that you are becoming an expert in modern Catholic literature. What pleases me most about this new passion of yours is its ability to
Dear Rick, Part of me feels sorry for you, but part of me doesn’t. C’mon, did you really expect your vacation Bible School to achieve perfection in its first year
Dear Penny, Having news of you has truly warmed my heart. I have been praying for you in a special way, hoping that your first weeks in consecrated life would
Dear Rod, I’m glad to hear that your first foray into politics is “dizzyingly exciting and immensely promising”. I have been telling you and your cousins for years that one
Dear Vinnie, I won’t say your political ambitions are intrinsically unhealthy, but I will say that they are dangerous. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad to the tenth degree
Dear Kate, Sometimes I get so frustrated, being this far away from you and your cousins. How I wish I could be there with you, encouraging you, guiding you, teaching
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!
