Fr. Melvin A. Shorter, C.P. is the first of two children born to the late Edithand Melvin Shorter of Baltimore, Maryland. He was educated in the public school system of Baltimore Maryland, graduating from Baltimore City College (High School). He attended Coppin State College graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Secondary Education.

Upon graduation, he was employed by the Social Security Administration in Baltimore as a Career Development Specialist and later as a Personnel Relations specialist. He worked for the Administration until 1981. In 1981, Fr. Melvin entered the Passonist Novitiate in Pittsburgh, PA.

In 1982 he took first vows as a Passonist and entered Catholic Theological Union earning a Masters of Divinity with an emphasis on Word and Worship. Upon graduation, he was ordained in New York. He returned to Pittsburgh, PA for his first ministry assignment. While in Pittsburgh, he conducted Parish Missions and Retreats.

After one year in Pittsburgh, he was asked to join four other Passonist to reestablish a Passionist presence in Greenville, N.C. He ministered in St. Gabriel’s parish. Also, while in North Carolina he continued doing Itinerate Preaching. In 1989, He joined the parish staff of St. Paul of the Cross Parish in Atlanta, GA and became pastor in 1990. In 1996, Fr. Melvin served as one of five Catholic Chaplains at the 1996 World Summer Olympic Games.
While in Atlanta, Fr. Melvin was elected to the Provincial Council as Consultor. He ministered in both ministries until 2004 at which time he was asked to join two other Passionists in an experimental project in Harlem, New York. In2008, he joined the Passonist media ministry while continuing with Itinerate Preaching until 2010 when he was asked to join the Parish Staff at St. Joseph Parish in Paris, France. St. Joseph’s parish is the only all English-speaking parish in all of France. The parish ministers to people from over sixty different nations.

In Paris, Fr. Melvin served on a commission that remembered the 9/11 tragedies of the United States on its commemoration of its tenth anniversary. He also served on a commission that celebrated the 200th Anniversary of English used in worship services in France. He also ministered with an ecumenical commission in Paris. This group met regularly in support of the many faiths that celebrated worship in English He served as one of several chefs who weekly provided a three-course, sit down lunch for the hungry. While in the Parish, he conducted Bible Study Groups, prepared families for Baptism and was chaplain to a group of Missionary Sisters of Charity.

Fr. Melvin is currently the Rector of the community at Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center. He also continues his ministry of conducting Retreats, Days of Reflection and Parish Missions.
Fr. Melvin enjoys traveling, reading, films, theater and cooking.

Brother Andre Mathieu, C.P., is a native of Hartford, CT. He made his profession of religious vows as a Passionist in 1962. During the past fifty­ eight years, he has served in various pastoral, formation and leadership positions in the Eastern Province (region) of the Passionists.

For the past thirteen years, he has been a member of the Passionist Community, St. Ann's Monastery, Scranton, Pa. Prior to his assign­ment at St. Ann's, he was a member of the Passionist Preaching Minist1y for eighteen years, directing parish missions ands retreats for clergy, religious and laity in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean.

Brother Andre holds a Master's degree in Pastoral Theology from Boston College as well as a Master's degree in Gerontology from the College of New Rochelle, NY. He has a Certification in Thanatology (Death Studies) and has directed workshops and retreats on Spirituality and the Dynamics of Grief and Loss.