On Friday, June 13, 2014, the Province of St. Joseph, New York, USA elected Kenneth Letoile, O.P., to serve as Prior Provincial for the next four years. His election was confirmed by the Master of the Order, Bruno Cador, O.P., and is effective immediately. He succeeds Brian Martin Mulcahy, O.P., who served as Provincial since 2010.
Fr. Letoile was born and raised in St. Pius V parish, Providence, R.I. He is a graduate of the parish grade school and of La Salle Academy. He entered the Order of Preachers in 1967, and earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Providence College in 1970. He went on to study at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception (Washington, D.C.), and he was ordained to the priesthood in 1974. He completed his S.T.L. in 1975.
Fr. Letoile has 36 years of pastoral service in Dominican parishes, including: St. Ann, Kingstree, S.C. (1975-1978); Sacred Heart, Jersey City, N.J. (1978-1989), St. Pius V, Providence, R.I. (1989-1998, 2008-2011) and St. Gertrude, Cincinnati, Ohio (1998-2008). In 2011 he was elected prior at the Dominican House of Studies. He became the Director of Pastoral Field Education for the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in July, 2012. He has served the Province of St. Joseph as vocation director and as a member of the provincial council. His pastoral interests include evangelization, effective parish leadership and the relationship of the Dominican vocation to parochial life.
(14 June 2014)