P I Instructors

Sr. Marian Sturm is a Sister of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament from Victoria, Tx.  She has ministered as a Catholic School teacher, a parish Director of Religious Education, an Adult Faith Formation Director, and is presently the Assistant Director of the Pastoral Institute for the Victoria Diocese.  She has facilitated retreats and workshops on prayer and is a certified Spiritual Director through the Center For Spiritual Growth and the Contemplative Life, with an MA in Theology and Catechetics from St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, TX.



Father Robert E. (Bob) Knippenberg is pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church in Wharton, Texas since June 19, 2013. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Victoria in Texas on June 10, 2000 by the Most Rev. David E. Fellhauer. Fr. Knippenberg holds a Bachelor of Arts Philosophy from Don Bosco College in Newton, New Jersey, a Master of Arts Pastoral Studies from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas and a Master of Divinity from the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio.  He has also completed the course of study at the Institute in Matrimonial Tribunal Practice at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C




Sister Digna Vela, IWBS is a spiritual director and staff member at Amor Meus Spirituality Center at Incarnate Word Convent, is an editor and director of Disciples on the Journey, a Lenten lectionary-based resource for small groups produced and published by her religious congregation . Sister Digna is also an instructor for the Diocese of Victoria Pastoral Institute, has been a workshop presenter at various diocesan conferences in Texas and Louisiana.  Sister Digna has a MA in theology from St. Mary University in San Antonio and a graduate certificate in spiritual direction and directed retreats from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.