Reverend Monsignor David H. Benz

David H. Benz was born in Chester, PA in 1943. He enlisted in the US Air Force in 1962, serving in Panama and then as a paramedic in Vietnam. After enlistment, Benz earned a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from Drexel Institute of Technology. He entered St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Overbrook in 1967, graduating with a Bachelors of Philosophy and a Masters of Divinity.

While a 2nd-year seminarian in 1968, some Black priests invited Benz to meetings in Camden, NJ, which became foundational meetings for NBCCC.  Benz, a past president of the Seminarians Association, later helped Fr. Thaddeus Posey lay groundwork for the Institute for Black Catholic Studies.   

Ordained in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1975, Benz has served as pastor or assistant pastor at various parishes, as Professor at Bishop McDevitt High School, and as an Air Force Chaplain from 1986 until his retirement from military service in 1999. In the Air Force, he established programs to care for deployed spouses during Operation Desert Storm and was awarded the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Air Force Good Conduct Medal and the National Defense Service Medal with bronze star.  

Benz was made a Prelate of Honor with the title Reverend Monsignor on June 12, 2005. Though he retired to Florida in 2013, he still travels and speaks on behalf of the poorest of the poor through Cross Catholic Outreach.