Contacts | Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church

General Enquiries

Contact Us

Address: 3117 W. 4th Street, Hattiesburg, MS 39401.

Tel: (601) 264-5192

Fax: 601 264 0834

Email: church@stthomas-usm.org

Get directions to our church and parish office

Priests

Fr. Mark Ropel

Tel : 601-264-5192

Email : ropesolt@yahoo.com

I grew up in Orange County, California. My parents are Joe and Mary Jean Ropel and I have a younger sister Linda Theodore. I graduated from Santa Clara University in 1984 and after completing ROTC at Santa Clara, served in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. I received my Master’s in Theology Degree from Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. Desiring to give back, I taught high school religion at St. John’s High School in Gulfport,MS. I discerned religious life during this time and entered the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT). I studied at the Angelicum in Rome. I was ordained a priest on February 9, 2002, by Bishop Carmody in Corpus Christi, Texas. I have served on troubled youth ranches in Clark Wyoming, and was Pastor and Team Leader for 6 Priests, 4 sisters and 30 volunteers on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in Belcourt, North Dakota. I discerned a move to the Diocese of Biloxi, and was incardinated on August 28, 2013. I was named the Pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas by Bishop Morin in November 2013 and began on January 15, 2014. I am excited to be here and look forward to taking the next step as an individual and parish with Our Lord.