(785) 437-2471 [email protected]
Fr. Paul Franks teaches courses in the philosophy of nature and Apologetics. He studied for the priesthood at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Minnesota, taking courses in Philosophy and Theology, and was ordained in 2016. After his ordination he was appointed to St. Mary’s College and has been there ever since. During his time in seminary, he directed the polyphonic choir and oversaw the organ department for four years each.
Prior to entering the Seminary, he had studied music and worked as a musician and teacher. He attended the University of Manchester and the Royal Northern College of Music where he studied on the prestigious Joint Course “intended for students with outstanding practical and academic ability,” earning a MusB and GRNCM at undergraduate level in Composition and Academic Music. He went on to earn an Master’s degree (MMus) in composition from the Royal Northern College of Music. As a composer, he has had works performed by (among others) Westminster Cathedral choir, Manchester Cathedral Choir, the Philharmonia Orchestra Sinfonietta, the Nottingham Youth Orchestra, and a piece installed on the South Bank of the Thames as part the “PLAY.Orchestra”.
He was born and raised in England to parents who had met in a folk dancing club. Folk music and dancing were a constant feature of his early life, and he has retained an enthusiasm for this patrimony ever since. He played in folk bands from the age of 16, and throughout university, working also as a caller for barn dances or ceilidhs until he entered the Seminary. He still shares his love for the folk music and culture of the British Isles with his students during weekly song nights, semi-regular bonfires, and barn dances.
Fr. Franks is also a lover of the Latin language, which he grew to love under the tutelage first of Fr. Joseph Wood (in the Seminary) and later under the mentorship of Fr. Reginald (“Reggie”) Foster. He has been privileged to communicate the joys of Latinity to seminarians over the course of several Summer programs which he has directed and taught at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, Dillwyn, Virgina.
He once bicycled over 1000 miles in England and Scotland to raise money for his chapel in Wichita. He is fond of cats.
