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Fr. James Moore, O.P., from Coalinga, California, received a BA in Music from Santa Clara University, an MA in Music from the University of Notre Dame, and a DMA in Musical Arts from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. While there, he also directed the Schola Cantorum of the Dominican Seminary which culminated in the release of two CDs of sacred music. After being ordained to the priesthood in 2008, he served as chaplain for the University of Arizona, Tucson, taught at and directed the Schola of St. Patrick’s Seminary in Menlo Park, and served the Western Dominican Province as director of the Shrine of St. Jude in San Francisco and, for seven years, as both Vicar Provincial for Advancement and Promoter of Mass Media and the Arts. And if he happened to have a free weekend, he offered his time and talent—and characteristic energy and enthusiasm—to preach mission appeals for us at parishes throughout California. Somehow, in the summer of 2023, he slipped in a trip to Ukraine to visit the Dominicans there and see firsthand how our donations were being used. (See Winter 2024 Newsletter.)

When he returned, Fr. Moore began a new chapter in his life—a call to serve as the Pastor of Holy Family Old Cathedral in Anchorage, Alaska, replacing Fr. Steven Maekawa, O.P., who had been appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Fairbanks. As Fr. Moore recently put it upon being given his current assignment, “Our Dominican life is rooted in itinerancy—to be ready to go wherever the Gospel must be preached, and to adapt to the needs of the Order and the people of God.”