In a podcast by the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, Father Ed Dougherty, former superior general of the order and representative of Maryknoll in Rome to the Holy See, talks about his experiences growing up in the Kensington section of Philadelphia before serving as a missionary priest in Africa and in the United States.

He’s learned to ride motorcycles, mastered the Swahili language and hunted for his own food in a rural region of Tanzania. He discusses his mission work teaching theology in Tanzania as well as his work in Michigan, Florida, Texas and Louisiana.

Father Ed was good friends with the late Maryknoll Sister Ita Ford, who was murdered in El Salvador in 1980. He shares his stories of their friendship and celebrations, and how he received a letter from her just days after her death, a moment he takes as a sign from God.