Reverend Michael W. Davis, M.A., M.Div., M.Ed., is a priest of the Archdiocese of Miami, Florida, ordained at Saint Mary's Cathedral on May 12, 1990.
Born in Hamilton, Ohio on September 16, 1963, and a product of Catholic education, he moved to South Florida in December 1984, after graduating from the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, where he majored in Latin American Studies and minored in Philosophy. Subsequently, he began his studies of theology in Rome, Italy, where he attended the Gregorian University and the University of Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Continuing his seminary formation at Saint Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Florida, he earned a Master's degree in Systematic Theology in 1989 and a Master's degree in Divinity before his ordination to the priesthood in 1990. After ordination, he studied at Boston College, where he received a Master's degree in Educational Leadership in 1995. He has done extensive post-graduate studies in Mariology at the International Marian Research Institute in Dayton, Ohio, and he has also been trained in Miami as a Spiritual Director through the Institute for Priestly Formation from Omaha, Nebraska.
Inspired by mission work and cultural studies in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, Father Davis has spent much of his 29 years as a priest working in multi-cultural and multi-lingual environments, primarily among Caribbean, Central, and South American Hispanics. He has studied Spanish, Italian, Latin, and Greek. He has served in two parishes as a Parochial Vicar and in four South Florida archdiocesan high schools in a variety of capacities including classroom teacher, Department Chair, Assistant Principal, and President. He has taught students at all levels of elementary, high school, and collegiate education, addressing many subject areas in theology, as well as Spanish, and public speaking. He has also taught theology and Spanish at the graduate level in a seminary pre-theology program in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1997
Father Davis began a three-year term of service as Chair of the Theology Department at Saint John Vianney College Seminary in Miami, where he served as an instructor of theology, the Director of the Apostolic Service Program and the Director of Liturgy. He was also simultaneously an adjunct Spiritual Director for the Permanent Diaconate Program. Concurrently, he was the host of a local radio program on Radio Peace entitled, "In the Shoes of the Fishermen," a weekly broadcast about priesthood and religious life. In 1998, he appeared on television as a special guest commentator for the live coverage from Miami of Pope John Paul II's historic visit to Havana, Cuba on Miami's Fox Channel 7. He has also appeared on the PBS program entitled, Viewpoint, where, as a Member of the Mariological Society of America, he spoke about Catholic teaching on the Blessed Virgin Mary.
2002-2008
Father Davis served as the Supervising Principal, President, and CFO of Miami's Archbishop Coleman F. Carroll High School, where he founded the Saint Teresa of the Andes Convent and was responsible for bringing the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles to staff the school. Committed to quality youth formation that includes the witness of men and women Religious, he assembled a team of three priests, nine nuns, and two permanent deacons who worked tirelessly to create a strong Catholic environment, which later received acknowledgement as among the "top 20 Catholic high schools in America for its clear Catholic identity," as determined by the Acton Institute of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
2008-2010
Father Davis served as the Seminary Spiritual Director for Mount Saint Mary's Seminary of the West in Cincinnati, Ohio, where, in the education of future priests, he also served as Director of Liturgy, and a Retreat Master for canonical retreats.
2011
Following a brief tenure as Pastor of Saint Jerome Church in Fort Lauderdale, he was selected in 2011 to assume the pastorship of the Church of the Little Flower in Coral Gables, Florida, where he gave particular attention to the strengthening of community life, the care for the patrimony of the parish, adult and youth educational opportunities, and the development of ministries. Simultaneously, he has regularly been selected as a host-pastor, mentoring seminarians in preparation for their own future priestly ministries.
2012 - onwards
Father Davis has served as an elected member of the Archdiocesan Presbyteral Council and since 2012 has served as an appointed member of the Priest Personnel and Incardination Boards. He served for six years as a member of the Board of Directors for the Catholic Community Foundation. He is also an appointed member of the Archdiocesan College of Consultors. He is also a member of the Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, with the rank of Knight Commander. He serves the Order as a deanery Prior.
An experienced leader of group pilgrimage travel, he has led parishioners on enriching trips to the Holy Land, Italy, France, Spain, Poland, Argentina, and Brasil. He has visited all 50 states in the United States of America. He has led many vocation retreats, youth retreats, Marian missions, women's retreats, Emmaus retreats, and days of recollection for Catholic school teachers and staffs throughout Florida, Mississippi, California, and Ohio. In 2007, he was recognized as an "Outstanding Educator" by the Marquis publication Who's Who in American Education. In 2009, he served as an instructor for catechists and religious education professionals for the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky.
Father Davis assumed the pastorship of the Church of Saint Gregory the Great in Plantation, Florida on June 15, 2019.