Meet the St. Mark's Parish Team
Fr. Robert Allore, SJ, Pastor
On Sunday June 24, 2018, the community of St. Mark’s and the Jesuits of English Canada celebrated as Fr. Robert Allore, SJ takes his finals vows as a member of the Society of Jesus. Read about his life here: I arrived at St. Marks Parish and the University of British Columbia in January of 2012 after a decade on the campus of the University of Toronto. My university studies began in biology at the University of Ottawa. Upon completion of my studies in Ottawa I moved to the University of Toronto where I obtained a PhD in Immunology. After several years of research activity, I joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). I was ordained to the priesthood in 2001. Before moving to Vancouver, I worked for several years at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital investigating the genetics of nervous system development. During those years I also assisted the Catholic chaplain at the Newman Centre, the University of Toronto. It is a pleasure and an honour to be associated with the young and growing parish of St. Marks and the Catholic chaplaincy at UBC. The Science and Faith Reflection group, which meets throughout the academic year, is one of my favourite projects at St. Marks.
Rowena Delicana: Administrative Assistant
Rowena is an active parishioner, Usher/Greeter volunteer and member of the Catholic Women’s League at St. Francis de Sales Parish in Burnaby. From 2010-2015, she was the secretary of their CWL council, got a one year break and back to assuming the same position again this 2017. With a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering in the Philippines, she worked at Procter & Gamble, Phil, then at Environmental Consulting Firms and Laboratories in the San Francisco Bay area for about 7 years. Her family moved to Vancouver BC in 1996 where she got to explore a supervisory career in the mining industry. In 2009, deciding on a career change, she got her Real Estate Trading Services license from the UBC Sauder School of Business. Working on her own time, she has been serving sellers, buyers and investors alike in all their real estate needs since. It is her pleasure and privilege to be helping here at St. Mark’s Parish!
Kevin Eng, Coordinator of Music Ministry
Kevin’s passion for teaching music and performing became a reality in 2005 when he left his full time job in software development and began teaching, arranging, performing, and directing music full time. Prior to that year, he had been performing as a musician for wedding ceremonies and special events, as a keyboard player in the orchestra for music theatre performances, and was involved in music ministry for St. Paul’s church in Richmond as a piano player during Sunday service and worship leader for their youth retreats. He currently serves as the music director at St. Mark’s College chapel on the University of British Columbia campus, and teaches music privately and at the Pacific Life Bible College in Surrey, B.C. He has had classical training in piano, and holds the Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Toronto (ARCT) teacher’s diploma.
Catherine M. Kelly, M.Div. - Director of Spiritual Formation, Retreats and Christian Life Community (CLC)
Witnessing people fall in love with God in their own unique way energizes me. My passion is to catch people where they are most alive like a kingfisher of souls (Matthew 4:19). My ministry in Ignatian spiritual formation helps people identify that place within themselves where God has planted their deepest desires. I encourage people to allow God to animate their lives so their good and holy desires come to fruition and they flourish in fullness of life (John 10:10). Catherine is a gifted formator, spiritual director, teacher, and retreat facilitator in several areas, including Ignatian spirituality and discernment. Since joining the parish team in 2014, she has offered over 80 retreats relevant to the liturgical seasons and responding to the needs of our times for diverse demographics across Canada. During the pandemic, she offered retreats virtually, reaching people across Canada, the US and Latin America. Catherine is a member of the Catholic Chaplaincy team at the University of British Columbia-Vancouver, offering student retreats and serving as a spiritual director for students. She guides spiritual formation for students and non-students through Christian Life Community (CLC), a worldwide lay apostolate rooted in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Catherine is recognized as a national and international speaker and facilitator for CLC. Trained as a director for the Spiritual Exercises and in general spiritual direction, she specializes in facilitating the Spiritual Exercises in a communal context and offering peer supervision/consultation for the spiritual directors accompanying these groups. A former attorney, editor and grant writer, Catherine is passionate about seeking and finding God in all things. She received her Master of Divinity from the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California.
Fr. Bill Wilson, SJ, Pastor
On Sunday, June 24th, 2018, the community of St. Mark’s celebrated Fr. Bill’s 50th anniversary of his ordination. Read about his life and his accomplishments: Fr. Bill Wilson was born in Kingston, ON in 1937. He is the oldest of 9 children. At age 18 , he entered the Jesuits at Guelph and followed the normal training of the Jesuits at that time. After this training, he went to be Chaplain at Loyola High School in Montreal. Following that, he went to Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Toronto. Next, he went to Thunder Bay, ON where he resided for 25 years. It was here that he worked a great deal with the First Nations Communities and got involved on issues in the field of addiction. During this time, Fr. Bill travelled to India and Nepal to train social workers on how to deal with issues on addictions. His experiences here exposed him to different spiritualities. Twenty-five years later, he came to Victoria and worked with an organization called Earth Literacies. Here, they did workshops on contemporary spirituality and ecological issues. During all this time, Fr. Bill offered spiritual direction, gave retreats, lectures as well as workshops in India, Nepal, Canada, and some states in the US like California, Georgia & New Orleans. Now in Vancouver for about 2 years, Fr. Bill is doing spiritual directions here at St. Mark’s & helping us out here in the parish. In his quiet time, he enjoys reading and walking.
