Founded in 1791, St. Mary’s Seminary & University was the first Catholic seminary established in the United States.
Baltimore, MD – The Provincial Council has appointed Sulpician Father Shawn D. Gould, P.S.S., S.T.L., J.D., as the next President-Rector of St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland, effective July 1, 2026. This appointment has received the prerequisite approvals of Most Reverend William Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore and Chancellor of St. Mary’s, and Very Reverend Shayne E.M. Craig, P.S.S, Superior General of the Society of St. Sulpice.
The Provincial Superior Father Daniel F. Moore praised the appointment, commenting, “This is a moment
of great promise for St. Mary’s. Father Shawn Gould brings to this essential ministry a deep love for the priesthood, a genuine pastoral heart, and a virtuous apostolic vision rooted in the Church’s living tradition. Under his leadership, St. Mary’s will continue to flourish as a Sulpician house of prayer, priestly formation, and missionary zeal, serving the bishops of our nation, the seminarians entrusted to us, and the needs of the Church with enhanced clarity and purpose.”
Archbishop William E. Lori, Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Chancellor of St. Mary’s Seminary & University, expressed strong confidence in the appointment: “I am delighted with the appointment of
Father Shawn Gould, P.S.S., as the next President-Rector of St. Mary’s Seminary & University. Father Gould’s priestly zeal and deep commitment to priestly formation will serve him well as he leads the seminary community. I am also grateful to Father Phil Brown, P.S.S., for his dedicated years of service as Rector, during which he laid a strong foundation for future generations of young men discerning a call to the priesthood.”
Father Gould responded, “I am grateful to Father Moore and the Provincial Council, to Archbishop Lori, and to the St. Mary’s Board of Trustees for the confidence they have placed in me. I thank Father Brown for his excellent stewardship of St. Mary’s over the past decade, and I look forward to working with the faculty, staff, and benefactors of St. Mary’s as we continue to implement Father Olier’s vision of an apostolic house promoting conformity to Christ in the interior lives of seminarians and priests.”
A priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago and a member of the Society of St. Sulpice since 2021, he currently serves as the Director of the Blessed Father Michael J. McGivney Propaedeutic House of Formation and St. Mary’s Historic Site in Baltimore since 2024. Father Gould also served on the faculty of St. Mary’s, Roland Park, as Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology, spiritual director, and formation faculty member.
Father Gould’s academic formation is notable. He holds pontifical theological degrees with distinction, a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and is completing doctoral
studies at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome, with research deeply rooted in the Christological and spiritual theology of Jean-Jacques Olier and the French School.
Father Gould will succeed the Reverend Phillip J. Brown, P.S.S., J.D., J.C.D., who will retire on June 30, 2026, after ten years of faithful service. Father Moore stated, “The Province is profoundly grateful to
Father Brown for his decade of devoted service as President-Rector of St. Mary’s, Roland Park. He has guided the institution with wisdom, steadiness, and fidelity during a period of significant challenge and
transition, and his leadership has left an enduring mark on the life of the seminary and university.”
