Father Joel was ordained to the priesthood in 2018 by now-retired Bishop John Pazak. In 2019 he was assigned to the formation staff of the Byzantine Catholic Seminary in Pittsburgh, after many years of teaching at St John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver. In July 2022, he returned to Denver to continue his priestly ministry at Holy Protection parish, its Fort Collins outreach, and Saints Cyril and Methodius Russian Greek Catholic Community. Father Joel and Pani Leslie have raised seven children and take delight in their grandchildren, whose number is steadily growing.
Father Joel received his BA in Classics-History-Politics from Colorado College (1984); an MA in Early Christian Studies from the Catholic University of America (1987); and an MMS (1989) and PhD (1998) from the University of Notre Dame’s Medieval Institute, where he studied the divergence of the Latin and Byzantine theological traditions in the post-Patristic, early medieval period.
