Rev. Giles Conwill 

Giles Conwill, a native of Louisville, KY, was ordained a priest of the Diocese of San Diego in 1973. Conwill owes his discernment to his Catholic mother (a school principal) and to Italian missionaries (the Verona Fathers) who became father figures at Immaculate Heart of Mary School when his dad died.  Conwill holds a B.A. degree in Philosophy from the University of San Diego, a M.Div. from the Athenaeum of Ohio, and a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology & History from Emory.

From 1976-1980, Conwill was Director of the Department of Church Vocations for the National Office for Black Catholics in Washington, DC.  He has taught at many institutions, including Spalding University in Louisville, Clark Atlanta University, and Clayton State University. From Morehouse College, he joined the faculty of Xavier University of Louisiana in 1987, eventually rising to History Department Chair. In 2010, he also became Xavier’s campus minister.

Conwill, a nationally renowned homilist, was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. International Board of Preachers in Atlanta in April 2012. Of the 36 preachers honored that year, Conwill was the only Catholic priest.  Conwill’s scholarly works and publications have been in the areas of Black Catholic Catechesis, History, Evangelization, Spirituality, and Preaching.