Diarmuid Rooney, CHA's first senior director of ministry formation, will provide thought leadership and subject matter expertise in ministry formation to CHA member organizations. Based in the organization's St. Louis office, he is available to assist ministry members in developing an integrated approach to formation and implementing projects related to Catholic identity.
Sr. Mary Haddad, RSM, is CHA vice president of sponsorship and mission services. She said, "Leaders in Catholic health care have come to recognize the important role of formation in ensuring the Catholic identity of our ministries." She said in addition to formation programming, a ministry formation strategy must include other components of formation including preliminary education, ongoing formation and program assessment. The new ministry formation position will enable CHA to provide additional attention and resources for this critical area of need — ministry formation, she said.
CHA created the position to expand upon its foundational work in ministry formation. For nearly a quarter-century, CHA has provided resources, programming and education to support the development and formation of ministry leaders. CHA has included in its current strategic plan an objective to expand ministry formation opportunities for its members. This strategic objective is related to CHA's goal to be a catalyst to strengthening the Catholic identity of CHA member organizations.
Rooney has more than 25 years' managerial experience with Catholic religious organizations, and expertise in executive and employee formation. Most recently, he was a leadership formation and development consultant. From 2009 to June 2017, he was vice president of leadership formation and resource innovation for the Ministry Leadership Center of Roseville, Calif. Previously, Rooney was regional mission formation director for Providence Health & Services' Oregon region. Before that he was director of the Mercy Conference & Retreat Center in Burlingame, Calif.
Before moving to the U.S. from Ireland in 2001 to earn his master's in theological studies at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, Calif., Rooney had managed a retreat center, co-founded a counseling center, coordinated educational programming and lectured at several religious organizations in Ireland. He has a bachelor's degree in political science and philosophy, a diploma in social science and administration, and a master's degree in clinical psychotherapy from the University College in Dublin.
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