Formation Team
Fr. Jonathan Kelly | Rector
Fr. Jonathan Kelly is a priest of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and a member of the priestly fraternity, the Companions of Christ. Ordained in 2011, he was the associate pastor at All Saints in Lakeville, Minnesota until 2014. Since then he has been a formator and spiritual director at the Saint John Vianney College Seminary and has served as an Adjunct Professor of Theology at the University of St. Thomas. He is also a spiritual director and adjunct faculty for the Institute for Priestly Formation in Omaha, Nebraska. In January 2021, Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda appointed him to be the ninth Rector of SJV.
Fr. Clayton Forner | Formation Advisor & Spiritual Director
Fr. Clayton Forner is a priest for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Ordained in 2020, he served briefly at St. Joseph's in West St. Paul before completing his license in Spiritual Theology at the Gregorian University. Upon returning to the Archdiocese, he moved into Spanish-speaking ministry and served for a year at St. Stephen's and Holy Rosary in Minneapolis and spent two years at Divine Mercy and St. Michael's in Kenyon. A 2016 alumnus of Saint John Vianney, Fr. Clayton is excited to return to SJV and serve as a formator and spiritual director.
Fr. Paul Gitter | Spiritual Director
Fr. Paul Gitter, the longest-serving priest currently on the formation staff at Saint John Vianney, is the Director of Spiritual Life, a role he took up in 2019. Prior to that, he served for two years as the director of the SJV Rome Study Abroad Program, following a ten-year period as a full-time formator and 10 years of part-time ministry to the seminary before that. Father Gitter was ordained in July 1993 after completing his theological studies and priestly formation at the University of Saint Mary of the Lake (Mundelein Seminary) in Chicago, after which he served in parish ministry before his transfer to full-time work at SJV.
Fr. Scott Nolan | Formation Advisor & Spiritual Director
Fr. Scott Nolan was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Grand Rapids in 2013. He completed his studies at Saint John Vianney in 2009 before continuing formation at Mundelein Seminary. After ordination, Fr. Nolan served for three years as an associate pastor at the Basilica of St. Adalbert and St. Mary Parishes in Grand Rapids. At the same time, he was also the chaplain at West Catholic High School. Fr. Nolan then became the pastor of St. Stephen Parish in East Grand Rapids, where he served for eight years prior to his 2024 appointment to the SJV formation staff.
Fr. Jeff Norfolk | Formation Advisor & Spiritual Director
Fr. Jeff Norfolk was born and raised in Mitchell, South Dakota. He completed his seminary studies at Franciscan University in Steubenville and St. John Vianney in Denver. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Sioux Falls on May 29, 2009, at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Sioux Falls. Fr. Norfolk spent 4 years as an associate pastor as well as chaplaincy work at Northern State University, The University of South Dakota, Avera Hospitals, and South Dakota prisons and jails. He most recently served as the assistant at St. Joseph Cathedral in Sioux Falls.
Fr. Jim Olofson | Vice-Rector, Formation Advisor, & Spiritual Director
Fr. Jim Olofson is a priest of the Diocese of Joliet in Illinois and began his seminary formation here at St. John Vianney in 2010. After SJV, he attended Mundelein Seminary and was ordained a priest in 2018. He served at St. Dominic in Bolingbrook and St. John the Baptist in Winfield, where he regularly worked with the Hispanic community and in the parish schools. In 2021, he was sent to Rome to complete a Licentiate Degree in Spiritual Theology at the Angelicum. In 2022, while studying, Fr. Olofson began to work with the SJV seminarians during their semester abroad in Rome at the Irish College.
Dr. Chris Burke | Director of Counseling Services & Assistant Human Formation Lead
Dr. Christopher Burke joined the SJV team as Director of Counseling Services in January 2023 to assist in developing the Propaedeutic Stage program for the first year seminarians. Chris served for 8 years in the U.S. Navy as a Naval Flight Officer on the P-3 Orion (anti-submarine warfare) aircraft and subsequently earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Dr. Burke provides faith-consonant therapy for Catholic clergy and seminarians. He and his wife Sara live in the Mac Groveland neighborhood of St. Paul and are proud members of the Nativity of Our Lord Parish. They recently adopted a cavapoo (King Charles Cavalier and poodle) puppy, are training him to be a service dog, and hope be able to share him with the SJV community!
Operations Team
Mike Roesch | Director of Business & Operations
Mike Roesch joined the SJV staff in Fall 2021 after several years working in campus ministry and administration for the Diocese of Evansville, Indiana, and in finance and operations at the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, DC. He studied Theology and Political Science at the University of Notre Dame and has an M.T.S. degree from the JPII Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. He lives in New Brighton with his wife and two children.
Phil Roeser | Director of Development
A longtime supporter of both SJV and the Saint Paul Seminary, Phil joined the seminary community after four decades of sales leadership, most recently in the health care industry. He is a devout Catholic, husband, father of three and grandfather of five who most recently founded PR Medical, LLC and served as managing principal of the medical device consulting startup.
Katie Angstman | Marketing & Communications Manager
Katie joined the SJV staff in March 2023 after five years of coordinating communications in school and parish settings. She holds a bachelor's degree in organizational communication from Bethel University.
Sarah Carter | Executive Assistant to the Rector
Sarah holds a master's degree in Theology from Saint Paul Seminary and undergraduate degrees in Economics and Catholic Studies from the University of St. Thomas. Her previous work experience includes policy research and program management at the USCCB and Minnesota Catholic Conference as well as teaching high school theology at Hill-Murray School. Sarah lives in South St. Paul with her husband and two children and enjoys cooking, reading, and writing.
Mary Frame | Student Services & Office Support Specialist
Mary has served SJV in administrative capacities for 17 years. She enjoys working with all the amazing seminarians that come to SJV. Named in her honor, Mary Frame Field is the "Home of SJV Wiffle Ball" each spring.
Dede Leininger | Event & Hospitality Specialist
Dede Leininger has led event planning and hospitality as a member of SJV's administrative support team for 17 years. She and her husband John are members of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul and have 6 children.
Michael Malkowiak | Development Services Specialist
Michael joined SJV in May 2024 after his graduation from Saint Louis University. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance with a minor in Data Analytics. Michael has attended numerous SJV events over the years and is excited to be working alongside the great young men of SJV.
Sue Quam | Finance Assistant
In 2012, Sue joined the staff at The Saint Paul Seminary as an assistant to the Finance Director. They soon took on the accounting for SJV as well. She retired from full-time work in July 2022 but continues to work part-time at SJV.