SLI Builds Connections, Partners in Healing at Missouri Events

Rev. Patrick J. McDevitt, CM, Ph.D., President & CEO of Saint Luke Institute (SLI), and Christina DiMeglio Lopez, Director of Mission Advancement, along with members of the SLI Board of Directors, were welcomed May 2-3, 2026, in St. Louis and Cape Girardeau, Missouri, at two events hosted by local friends of SLI. Fr. McDevitt and Mrs. DiMeglio Lopez were joined by Sr. Salvatrice Murphy, DC, LCSW, Chair of the SLI Board, and local board members Katie Pesha, MBA and F. Javier Orozco, PhD, as well as Fr. Tom Esselman, CM, who serves on the SLI spirituality team for both in-person and online spiritual care. They were graciously hosted in Ladue by longtime friends of Fr. McDevitt one evening. A second event another evening brought the SLI leaders to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where friends of SLI and Fr. McDevitt again welcomed them for a small gathering and an introduction to SLI’s mission. Fr. McDevitt served in Cape Girardeau after his ordination in 1986, and the impact he made on the parish community remains strong. (Fr. McDevitt will also commemorate the 40th anniversary of his ordination later this month at a special livestreamed Mass in Chicago.) Three families in attendance at the Cape Girardeau event have sons currently in Catholic seminaries, a meaningful sign of the community’s ongoing commitment to the Church.

Both events allowed participants to be introduced to SLI’s Partners in Healing Giving Society for recurring regular financial support of SLI’s growing mission. There was strong enthusiasm for spreading the word and introducing others to SLI’s work caring for clergy and religious in need of mental health and spiritual care and renewal. Across the two Missouri events, SLI engaged with nearly 50 new friends, some of whom have committed to becoming regional ambassadors for the organization! See photos from the events below.

While in the region, Fr. McDevitt and Christina attended the ordination of the new Ordinary Bishop of the Diocese of Belleville, Very Rev. Godfrey Mullen, OSB. Fr. McDevitt was able to engage several bishops in attendance about the work of SLI and its strategic efforts.

[Image: Rev. Patrick J. McDevitt, CM, PhD. , Sr. Salvatrice Murphy, DC, LCSW, and Board Member F. Javier Orosco, PhD, speak to one of the Missouri event gatherings about the work of SLI.]