Joseph R. Maher
Joseph R. Maher is the founder and president of Opus Bono Sacerdotii, a nonprofit organization that works to find solutions for the proper care and treatment of priests who are experiencing difficulties in their personal lives and their priestly ministry. In this capacity, Mr. Maher has worked one-on-one with many hundreds of priests, has created programming for the ongoing care and support of priests removed from public ministry, and has served as a resource for numerous U.S. Catholic bishops and for the Vatican. He has also written on topics relevant to the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church.
It was in his work with Opus Bono Sacerdotii that the idea for the Dulles Research Institute came about. Opus Bono’s founding theological advisor, Avery Cardinal Dulles, impressed upon Mr. Maher the importance of a scholarly component to his work so that the organization would not only respond to the abuse crisis but also contribute to finding solutions. In this new component to his work, Cardinal Dulles suggested that Mr. Maher enlist the help of theologian Albert M. Liberatore, with whom the cardinal had frequently discussed the abuse crisis. When Mr. Maher contacted Dr. Liberatore in 2017 to discuss the prospect of following through on Cardinal Dulles’ counsel, the two agreed that the most effective way to ensure the very best scholarship on the topic was to found an independent organization, and so the Dulles Research Institute was born.
A graduate of Eastern Michigan University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Written Communications and Marketing, Mr. Maher enjoyed a successful career as a business leader prior to founding Opus Bono Sacerdotii, and later the Dulles Research Institute. As CFO of an LA-based national multimedia communications corporation, Mr. Maher lead the company’s global growth and expansion into the founding of subsidiary companies in Europe, Latin America, and Canada. As CEO of a Detroit-based financial systems analysis and improvement company, he worked to improve Fortune 500 companies like General Motors, Ford, Daimler Chrysler, and Consumers Energy. And as founder and CEO of Christopher Raphael Marketing Design in Los Angeles, he was responsible for the production of a mass-market, fully interactive 3D multimedia tour for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, and for the development of landmark e-commerce applications and state-of-the-art interactive learning programs for mass-market distribution.
Always active in the world of media, Mr. Maher has written and directed TV commercials, in-house promotional films for General Motors, and the feature film Leonie!. He also served as executive producer for the largest live concert event ever held on American soil.
A committed Catholic, Mr. Maher and his wife helped found the Ventura/LA North Chapter of Legatus in California, which is an international organization of Catholic CEOs. They are distinguished as a Papal Knight and Papal Lady in the Middle Atlantic Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem.
At the Dulles Research Institute, Mr. Maher contributes insights gained through more than a decade-and-a-half of working in a unique role with clergy involved in the sexual abuse crisis. In addition, Mr. Maher serves as a vital link between the original research being carried out by the Dulles Research Institute and the clientele of Opus Bono Sacerdotii. In this way, Mr. Maher helps to fulfill Opus Bono’s mission of finding solutions while helping to fulfill the DRI’s mission by providing access to a valuable and elusive research population.