August 26, 2009

Local priest elected Oblates' vicar general

Father Ernest Sherstone, an Oblates of the Virgin Mary priest who serves as director of the Lanteri Center for Ignatian Spirituality in downtown Denver, was recently elected vicar general of his order.

The election took place during the community’s general chapter meeting July 22 in Paris, France.

The position, a six-year term, makes Father Sherstone second in command of his order. His duties, which consist of advising the newly elected Father General Sergio Zerattu, O.M.V., and meeting with the general council several times a year, won’t take him away from Denver or his work at the Lanteri Center.

Father Sherstone, 61, is a native of Canada. He professed his vows in 1974 and was ordained a priest in 1978. After working as a spiritual director at McGill University’s Newman Centre and as chaplain/director of the Ignatian Spirituality Centre of Montreal, he was assigned as director of the Lanteri Center in Denver in 2004. He has served on the Oblates’ provincial council for the past five years and has been a regional superior both in the United States and Canada.

“I’m glad to be able to serve the community in this way,” Father Sherstone said about his new position.