March 17: Serra Club of Philadelphia Monthly Meeting
12:30 p.m.
SPEAKER:
Rev. Sean English
Director
Vocation Office for the Diocesan Priesthood
Archdiocese of Philadelphia
Father Sean English is a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, ordained in 2014. A native of Clifton Heights in Delaware County, he grew up as a member of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Drexel Hill in a close-knit Irish Catholic family. The second oldest of four children, Father English is a cradle Catholic who attended Mass weekly with his family and served his parish from a young age as an altar server and later as a lector.
A graduate of Monsignor Bonner High School (Class of 2003), Father English went on to attend Lehigh University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Religious Studies in 2007 and served as captain of the men’s swim team. After college, he entered Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Overbrook in 2008 with the encouragement and support of Father Chris Rogers, then Vocations Director for the Archdiocese.
Following his ordination, Father English served as parochial vicar at St. Christopher Parish in Northeast Philadelphia from 2014 to 2019. He was briefly assigned to Visitation BVM Parish in Trooper before being named Parochial Administrator of St. Stanislaus Parish in Lansdale in August 2019. He became pastor in June 2020 and served the parish for five years. From September 2023 to June 2024, he also served as Parochial Administrator of St. Rose of Lima Parish in North Wales.
In January 2025, Father English was appointed Interim Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia while continuing his role as pastor. In June 2025, he was named Vocation Director full time, beginning a new chapter of ministry dedicated to encouraging and supporting priestly vocations across the Archdiocese.
Father English will speak on the topic “Growing Up Irish Catholic: Lessons on Priesthood from an Irish Landscaper,” sharing personal reflections on faith, family, and the everyday witnesses that shape a vocation.