Name Peter Vaghi | Role Lawyer | |
Books The Commandments We Keep, The Sacraments We Celeb, Encountering Jesus in Word - Sa, The Faith We Profess, The Prayer We Offer: A Catholic | ||
WITNESS - Monsignor Peter Vaghi
Peter Vaghi is an American Roman Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, author, and former lawyer associated with several noted American jurists. He is pastor of the Little Flower Parish in Bethesda, Maryland. He was previously pastor of the historic St. Patrick's Church in Washington, D.C.
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Career
Vaghi was born in Washington, D.C., in 1948. After attending the College of the Holy Cross, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to attend the University of Salzburg in Austria. Back in America, he attended the University of Virginia Law School and worked as an attorney and staffer to Senator Pete Domenici in Washington, D.C., before being assigned as a seminarian to the North American College, Vatican City, and attending the Gregorian University in Rome, Italy in preparation for the priesthood.
He was ordained in 1985, and designated a "Prelate of Honor" (entitling him to be addressed and referred to as "monsignor") by Pope John Paul II in 1995.
Activities
Vaghi has drawn attention because of his association with a number of highly influential conservative American jurists. He participated in the baptism and conversion to Catholicism of both Robert Bork, the unsuccessful conservative Supreme Court nominee, and columnist Robert Novak. He is also said to have a close relationship with Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, his college classmate, with Associate Justice Antonin Scalia and U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts, whose family belongs to his parish.
Vaghi is also active in the John Carroll Society, "an old-time Catholic service organization favored by Washington's large Catholic legal and political establishment," as whose chaplain he served as of 1987.