OUR MEMBERS
Voluntas Dei is made up of people from many walks of life, united by a shared desire to discern and live God’s will in the present moment. Our members include priests, celibate laymen, married couples, and single women and men, each bringing the Institute’s spirituality into the particular circumstances of their daily lives.
Across different professions, communities, and vocations, our members share a common commitment to prayer, fraternity, and service. Together, they form a community rooted in the Gospel and strengthened by the conviction that holiness is found in faithfully embracing the people, responsibilities, and opportunities God places before us each day.
“We do not get to God all by ourselves, but it is through and with the team that we do so.”
— Fr. Louis-Marie Parent(The Team: A School of Formation)
OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM
Inspired by the Church’s call to synodality, we the members of the USA District of the Voluntas Dei Institute promote a leadership style founded on transparency and active participation. We choose to practice collaboration and shared responsibility.
As of August 1, 2026, the following members were elected to serve in leadership for a five-year period:
Fr. Anthony Ciorra
DIRECTOR
Fr. Michael J. Seis
ASST. DIRECTOR
Fr. Jamie Bono
COUNCILOR
Fr. Greg McGivern
COUNCILOR
Fr. Anthony Ciorra
Director
Father Anthony Ciorra has spent more than five decades in priestly ministry, serving in parishes, higher education, spiritual formation, retreat ministry, and interreligious dialogue. His academic work has focused on the integration of spirituality, theology, and psychology, and he holds a Ph.D. in Historical Theology from Fordham University. He is also an author and has led retreats and conferences throughout the United States and internationally.
A member of Voluntas Dei since 1994, Fr. Anthony has served the Institute in numerous leadership roles, including as Director of the United States District and as a member of the Central Council. What first drew him to Voluntas Dei was the spirit of fraternity and welcome he encountered, especially in Fr. Louis-Marie Parent, who had a remarkable ability to make each person feel seen and valued.
For Fr. Anthony, Voluntas Dei has remained a spiritual home rooted in hospitality, inclusivity, peacemaking, and service to others.
Fr. Michael J. Seis
Assistant Director
Father Michael J. Seis is a priest of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, who has devoted more than three decades of his priesthood to missionary service in the Dominican Republic. Ordained on May 29, 1993, he earned his bachelor’s degree from Silver Lake College of the Holy Family and a master’s degree from the University of St. Thomas.
For more than 30 years, Fr. Michael has served in Elías Piña near the Dominican-Haitian border. His ministry has included service as pastor of St. Teresa of Avila Parish in Comendador, as well as diocesan leadership within the Diocese of San Juan de la Maguana. He has also played a major role in FUNDASEP, supporting education, housing, agriculture, health care, and community development throughout the region.
Fr. Michael has journeyed with Voluntas Dei for nearly 20 years and describes the Institute as a blessing both personally and in his priestly ministry. His life of missionary service reflects the Voluntas Dei call to discern and live God’s will in the present moment.
Fr. Gregory McGivern
Councilor
Father Gregory McGivern is a native of Northern Ireland and currently serves as University Chaplain at the University of San Diego. He holds master’s degrees in theology and counseling psychology and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California, as well as a certified Pastoral Counselor and Spiritual Director.
Throughout his ministry, Fr. Gregory has developed a particular interest in the relationship between psychology and spirituality. Catholic social teaching, especially its affirmation of the dignity and worth of every person, is central to his spirituality, together with the Three Fives of Voluntas Dei. His many years in education at both the high school and university levels have shaped his understanding of ministry as accompaniment.
Fr. Gregory has been a member of Voluntas Dei for 12 years and currently serves as Team Facilitator of the San Diego Mission Bay Team. After four years on the previous U.S. Council, he was elected to serve another five-year term. He enjoys theater, travel, hiking, and exercising.
Fr. Jamie Bono
Councilor
Father Jamie Bono’s vocation brings together priesthood, psychology, spiritual care, and a deep commitment to accompanying people through difficult seasons of life. Before entering the priesthood, he worked in the corporate world before discerning a call to ministry later in adulthood.
His ministry has included parish work, Catholic education, campus ministry, hospital and veterans’ chaplaincy, and professional counseling. While serving as a chaplain with veterans, Fr. Jamie accompanied people facing addiction, trauma, serious illness, and mental-health challenges—an experience that deepened his desire to integrate spiritual and psychological care. He later earned a master’s degree in psychology and became a licensed counselor in New Jersey.
Within Voluntas Dei, Fr. Jamie has served in formation leadership and as a local team facilitator, helping guide members through the various stages of their journey in the Institute. Across his many roles, his ministry remains rooted in healing, acceptance, service, and the dignity of every person.
Nell Lauber
Councilor
Nell Lauber has long lived her vocation through family life, education, community, and service. She has been involved for many years in the life of the Mamaroneck school community in New York as a teaching assistant, participating in both academic school programs and theater. She is now retired.
Nell met her husband, Christopher, on a pilgrimage to Israel, and together they built a family life rooted in faith, hospitality, and service. They raised two sons and have shared a strong commitment to the life and mission of Voluntas Dei.
Nell’s life offers a clear expression of the married vocation within Voluntas Dei: living the Institute’s spirituality not apart from ordinary life, but directly within family, work, community, and service.
Christopher Lauber
Councilor
Christopher Lauber has spent much of his professional life in Catholic and Jesuit education. A graduate of Fordham Preparatory School in the Bronx, he later returned as a faculty member and has served the school for more than three decades, teaching Latin and Ancient Greek while also contributing in admissions, publications, and other areas of school life.
Christopher’s own vocational journey has taken several turns. As a young adult, he spent time discerning religious life with the Capuchin Franciscans before ultimately embracing a vocation to marriage. During a pilgrimage to Israel, he met Nell, and together they raised two sons.
Christopher and Nell have shared a strong commitment to the missionary life of Voluntas Dei. Gratitude has been a guiding principle in Christopher’s life, closely reflecting the Voluntas Dei call to recognize and respond to God in the present moment.
Nell Lauber
COUNCILOR
Christopher Lauber
COUNCILOR
FROM OUR COMMUNITY….
“This community continues to help me grow in my relationship with God and to see His presence in the ordinary moments of daily life. The spirituality of the Three Fives helps me to live my vocation with greater simplicity, availability, and joy. Above all, Voluntas Dei helps me to keep my focus on God while serving His people. I am grateful for the friendships, community, and spiritual support that have enriched my life and ministry.”
Fr. Benjamin Madanu
Anchorage, Alaska
“As an affiliate member for almost ten years, Voluntas Dei has helped me understand what it means to live out my vocation. I love that the community reflects the diversity of the early Church, where people with different gifts, backgrounds, and charisms each had a unique role to play in Christ’s mission. We are called to live that mission not apart from the world, but right in the midst of it.”
Jenna Whelan
Greenbelt, Maryland
"I came to a point in my spiritual life where I felt drawn to live the priesthood in a way that went beyond any existing category within the institutional Church. I had no desire to leave the priesthood, but it was becoming difficult to force myself into the mold the institutional structures had laid out for me. I wanted to go deeper in listening to how the Spirit was drawing me to be a priest in our current day and age. Voluntas Dei came as a godsend at exactly the right time."
Fr. John Gribowich
San Francisco, California
"I find it encouraging and hopeful to be part of a Catholic faith community that includes priests, laity, and married couples. I believe it is a picture of the Body of Christ - as Jesus taught it - with many gifts, One Spirit. In living the Voluntas Dei spirituality, I am inspired daily to become the person that God created me to be. Voluntas helps me to live my calling as a wife, mother, musician, and servant of Christ- within the context of my baptismal call to the common priesthood of believers."
Mary Escueta
Eatontown, New Jersey
“From the first time [here], I felt deeply welcomed at Voluntas Dei. The spirituality of the Institute—its simplicity, practicality, and adaptability to various life situations—and the community of the U.S. District became very attractive to me. Our team, my mentor, director, and the wider community are very supportive, and we have had discussions and prayers which really matter.”
Dr. András József Molnár
Budapest, Hungary
“Being a part of Voluntas Dei means being part of a family of men, women, couples, and clergy who are of single mind in celebrating the living presence of God in their lives. The Institute members are truly hospitable and happy individuals. There is a sense of freedom of the spirit where we are able to serve [....] a part of something bigger than [ourselves].”
Fr. Thomas Crangle
Jersey City, New Jersey
“One of my favorite prayers of Fr. Parent is from his beautiful book, The Present Moment. The prayer helps me see every day as a blessing by 'discovering the good in others and finding the delicate phrases necessary to tell them of the good I see in them.' I am most grateful for the Institute’s spirituality of joy and optimism. Gathering monthly with my Team and at other times throughout the year, members of the Institute inspire me to grow deeper in my faith enabling a vision of hope broader than this moment in time.”
Fr. John Anderson
New York, New York