About Us
The purpose of the American Friends of the Vatican Library is to develop an awareness of the Vatican Library in the United States. The institution also helps to provide funds for the publication of scholarship, special projects and other needs beyond the operations budget of the Apostolic Library. Distinguished members serving on various Boards of The American Friends include:
Executive Committee
President
Rev. Msgr. Charles G. Kosanke
Rector / President
SS Cyril & Methodius Seminary
Orchard Lake, MI
Secretary / Treasurer
Stephen A. Seneker
CFO
Media-Direct LLC
Bloomfield Hills, MI
Counsel
Joseph Bonventre
Counsel
Clark Hill, P.L.C.
Term Board of Directors
Rev. Msgr. Charles G. Kosanke
Rector / President
SS Cyril & Methodius Seminary
Orchard Lake, MI
Stephen A. Seneker
CFO
Media-Direct LLC
Bloomfield Hills, MI
Joseph Bonventre
Counsel
Clark Hill, P.L.C.
Most Rev. Leonard P. Blair
Bishop of Toledo
Toledo, OH
Dr. Francis X. Blouin, Jr.
Director, Bentley Historical Library
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
Sr. Jean R. Bostley, SSJ
Director, Catholic Library Association
Pittsfield, MA
Dedria Bryfonski
Executive Vice President
Thomson Gale
Farmington Hills, MI
Patrice Merritt
Executive Director
The Detroit Public Library
Friends Foundation
Detroit, MI
Honorary Board of Directors
Anthony Cardinal Bevilacqua
Archbishop Emeritus
Philadelphia, PA
Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J.
Fordham University
Bronx, NY
Theodore Cardinal McCarrick
Archbishop of Washington
Washington, D.C.
Jorge Cardinal Mejia
Librarian and Archivist, S.R.E., Emeritus
Vatican City State, Italy
Edward Cardinal Egan
Archbishop of New York
New York, NY
James Cardinal Stafford
Major Penitentiary
Apostolic Penitentiary
Rome, Italy
Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I.
Archbishop of Chicago
Chicago, IL
Alfons Cardinal Stickler, S.D.B.
Librarian and Archivist, S.R.E., Emeritus
Vatican City State, Italy
William Cardinal Keeler
Archbishop of Baltimore
Baltimore, MD
Edmund Cardinal Szoka
President Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State
Vatican City State, Italy
Adam Cardinal Maida
Archbishop of Detroit
Detroit, MI
Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran
Librarian and Archivist, S.R.E.
Vatican City State, Italy
Rev. Rafaele Farina, S.D.B., Prefect
Vatican Apostolic Library
Vatican City State, Italy
History of the American Friends of the Vatican Library
The American Friends of the Vatican Library, the first auxiliary group of its kind in the long history of the Vatican Library, was founded by two American librarians in 1981 —Msgr. Francis X. Canfield and Sr. Claudia Carlen, IHM.
Msgr. Canfield and Sr. Carlen proposed the idea for the group to Fr. Alfons Stickler, Prefect for the Library and later Cardinal Librarian-Archivist of the Catholic Church. Fr. Stickler received a letter on Oct. 9, 1981, from Cardinal Casaroli, the Vatican Secretary of State, which granted the approval of the organization by Pope John Paul II. The late Holy Father expressed his gratitude and he encouraged the Friends to promote the Apostolic Library.
