One of the Southland's most prominent spiritual retreat leaders and lecturers will mark a significant anniversary on July 16. On that day, as the founding of the Claretian order is celebrated worldwide, Claretian Father John H. Hampsch will be celebrating his 60th anniversary as a professed Claretian missionary, and his 52nd anniversary as a priest.
Father Hampsch started his seminary studies in 1939 in Chicago, completed them at Dominguez Seminary in Rancho Dominguez, Carson, and was ordained at San Gabriel Mission. He is presently the director of the Claretian Tape Ministry, headquartered at the Claretian Provincial House in Los Angeles.
He has served in Texas, Arizona and California as parish priest, seminary professor and rector, college professor, lecturer, magazine writer, newspaper columnist, editor, retreat master, hospital chaplain, prison chaplain, campus chaplain, director of suicide prevention programs and Cursillo director. He holds degrees in philosophy from Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles and from Notre Dame University, with postgraduate work at the University of Southern California and the Dominican House of Studies in River Forest, Ill., in ascetical and mystical theology.
Father Hampsch calls himself an "itinerant preacher-teacher," with special emphasis on teaching and healing services. In addition to his personal appearances, his pastoral work includes the use of the mass media with his two TV series, "Send Forth Your Spirit" and "Glad You Asked," and by his frequent role as a TV and radio panelist. His poetry and articles have published in popular magazines, and his scientific papers in periodicals such as the Journal of Neuropsychiatry. He has authored 19 books and 85 booklets, often used as material for study groups.
For more than 30 years, Father Hampsch has been active in the Charismatic Renewal and has been a speaker at the Southern California Renewal Conference. Published by the Claretian Tape Ministry, his audio and video disks and tapes constitute one of today's largest Catholic tape ministries, with its proceeds supporting Claretian missions overseas. |