The Very Reverend Jose I. Lavastida is the Executive Director of Christian Formation and a priest of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Fr. José was born in Cuba and raised in Santurce, Puerto Rico, was ordained on May 16, 1987, and received a doctorate in Moral Theology in 1998 from the Alfonsian Academy, an Institute of the Lateran University in Rome. Fr. José has served in several parishes, was Academic Dean and Rector of Notre Dame Seminary, New Orleans, where he ministered for 15 years, and is also a Commander of the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps.