About a year after being ordained a Catholic priest, then-Fr. Kenneth Velo was enthusiastically helping manage the large parish of St. Angela in Chicago, where he was associate pastor. Fellow churchmen saw something in the new priest and made a seemingly small move that changed the course of Velo’s life. Ordained for only two years, he was elected by his confreres to the Archdiocese of Chicago board that makes decisions regarding the parishes where priests are assigned.

That body, called the Priest Personnel Board, opened doors for Velo by giving him a chance to work in administration at the archdiocesan level. It also allowed him to get to know hundreds of priests throughout the many parishes of the vast archdiocese, which encompasses Cook and Lake counties.