Fr. John was born May 28, 1960 to John and Angela Puodziunas in Philadelphia where he was raised and attended Catholic grade school and high school, as well as a few years of Lithuanian School at St Andrew Parish. After completing high school, he began studies in Actuarial Sciences but at age 20 responded to a call to become a Franciscan Friar. Fr John made his solemn profession on August 9, 1986 in the Franciscan Friars, Assumption BVM Province in Wisconsin, and was ordained to the priesthood on May 23, 1987 in Burlington, Wisconsin.
Fr. John graduated from Marquette University, Milwaukee in 1982 with a B.S. degree in Computational Mathematics and a minor in Philosophy; from Catholic Theological Union, Chicago in 1987 with a Masters in Divinity; and from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, Chicago in 1991 with a Masters in Management (MBA).
He has ministered as associate pastor and pastor in parishes in the Chicago area, Wisconsin, St Martha Parish in Philadelphia, and at various parishes as a visiting priest including St Andrew and St Casimir in Philadelphia. Fr John taught and served as chaplain at University of San Diego High School and Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego, and served as chaplain at University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Green Bay, and in Whitewater, Wisconsin. Fr John has been part of the television ministry, Heart of the Nation, since its inception, and has preached retreats and given talks around the world on Fraternal (Franciscan) Economics.
Fr. John has served in the leadership of the Franciscans as Provincial Treasurer (1990-2000), Provincial Vicar (2005-2011), and Provincial Minister (2011-2015). Since 2015 he has been serving as the General Economo (C.F.O.) for the Franciscan Order in Rome and as General Delegate to the Franciscan Friars of St Casimir Province in Lithuania.
