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Fr. John Paul Forte, O.P., Director

Fr. John Paul holds his office hours in the Center for Ethics and Spirituality (CES) Building 201 UCtr (across from the Cashier's Office). You can also arrange office hours by appointment by calling (858) 534-2548.

2/25/2007 - The Poem read to close Black History Month and begin Lent at Mass this past Sunday, Feb. 25, was found on THE NATIONAL BLACK CATHOLIC CONGRESS website.

It is posted here on our website in gratitude to the author, unknown, and to our Creator. [PDF Download]

This poem was inspired by Genesis 1:26 and 27

11/5/2006 - A Note From the Director - PDF

Biography

I was born in Hollywood, California on May 15, 1964. My mother tells me that her water broke during a James Bond film -- a Sean Connery Bond film. I have 3 older brothers and a sister who is fourteen months younger than me.

My parents were always into volunteering for something, so I received the "the call" to serve at an early age. As a youngster growing up in Southern California, I was always attracted to opportunities that invited me to grow beyond myself and my local community. It was for this reason that I enrolled in the Queen of Angels High School for boys exploring a vocation to the priesthood and other ways of service in the Church.

This was a life-changing experience for me, mainly because it stirred the flames of "a call of service" that I wanted to discover and express. Following high school, I studied at St. John's College Seminary for two years to continue to explore my journey. I discovered quickly that I was called to explore another path.

The road to this path presented itself in one of the mission statements of the Western Dominican Province: "Seek God and truth, and be of good use to others." Never had I heard so well articulated what I wanted to do with my life. At the time, I had no idea that I would become a priest. All I knew was that I had found a path that I had to explore.

As a Dominican, I had a great experience at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, a unique consortium of Catholic, Protestant, and other religious institutes. After eight years of study, prayer, community, questions, distractions, and discernment, I was ordained a Dominican priest with three others, one being Fr. Dominic DeLay, who served with me for four years at UCSD. Fr. Dominic is now serving our Province as a full-time filmmaker in Hollywood, as well as the chaplain to the Dominican Nuns, at the Monastery of the Angels.

After ordination I was assigned to St. Dominic's Church in San Francisco for three years, Stanford University for six years (where my love of university work was born), and to graduate studies in counseling at the University of San Diego. After one year at USD, my studies were interupted when I received "the call" to serve as Director of the Catholic Community at UCSD.

I have been serving this amazing community since the summer of 2003. Although I hope to complete my studies in counseling, I am not sorry for the GIFT of serving the Newman Center at UCSD.

Welcome to the Catholic Community! May you always "seek the truth" and discover how God is calling you "to be of good use to others.