Fr. Charles Bouchard, OP, S.T.D., was elected Provincial of his community in June 2011. Previously he served as president and professor of moral theology at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis.  During his tenure at Aquinas, he was a member of the committee that designed the Ph.D. program in health care ethics at Saint Louis University and was instrumental in beginning the master’s program in health care mission at Aquinas. He also helped design a leadership formation program at Ascension Health and was a co-author of the white paper on theology of sponsorship for the Catholic Health Association.

In 2008, after 19 years at Aquinas, Fr. Bouchard assumed the role of vice president, theological education for Ascension Health where he was involved in theological formation for boards and senior executives. 

In his current position as Provincial, Fr. Bouchard has leadership responsibility for 185 friars located in the United States and Bolivia. The province has ten parishes and campus ministries, a high school and a graduate school of theology across the upper Midwest, Colorado and New Mexico.

In addition to moral theology, Fr. Bouchard’s interests include ecclesial dimensions of sponsorship and the growing involvement of lay women and men in leadership of sponsored institutions. He maintains involvement in Catholic health care through periodic work for the Catholic Health Association, Alexian Brothers Health System and Franciscan Communities of Chicago. He serves on the boards of Fenwick High School, CHRISTUS Health and Aquinas Institute of Theology. He is currently editing a book entitled Health Care and the Church: Theological Issues.