Donnelly College

Monsignor Stuart Swetland, S.T.D.,

President Donnelly College

Before arriving at Donnelly, Msgr. Swetland served as the Vice President for Catholic

Identity and Director of Pre-Theology at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, MD,

where he also held the Archbishop Flynn Chair of Christian Ethics. Msgr. Swetland received

his undergraduate degree in Physics from the United States Naval Academy, where he was

first in his class academically. Elected a Rhodes Scholar in 1981, he entered the Catholic

Church while studying at Oxford and was ordained a priest in 1991.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from Oxford University where he studied

Politics, Philosophy, and Economics; a Master of Divinity and Master of Arts from Mount

St. Mary’s Seminary; and earned his Sacred Theology Licentiate and Sacred Theology

Doctorate from the Pontifical Lateran University, in Rome. Msgr. Swetland was named a

Prelate of Honor in 2000 by St. John Paul II. Additionally, he has been awarded two

honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters. One was received from Benedictine College and

the other from Walsh University.

In addition to his role at Donnelly, Msgr. Swetland is a Knight Commander for

the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre and a fourth-degree Knight of Columbus

and was the Executive Secretary for the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars for

twenty years. A convert to Catholicism, Monsignor Swetland has hosted for over 20

years various television and radio shows presenting and defending Catholic social

teaching. Pastorally, he serves as pastor of Our Lady and St. Rose Catholic Church, and as

a chaplain to the local chapters of Legatus and the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre in Kansas

City, KS.