By CatholicPhilly Staff Report • Posted June 10, 2026

The National Centre for Padre Pio has named Deacon James S. Friend Jr. as its new executive director, the organization announced Wednesday, June 10.

Deacon Friend, a permanent deacon in the Diocese of Allentown, brings more than 30 years of Catholic leadership experience, including work in advancement, fundraising, and nonprofit management.

Most recently, he served as director of mission advancement at Saint John Vianney Center in Downingtown, where he launched development and communications initiatives to expand the organization’s national outreach.

Board President John J. Shields said Deacon Friend’s background in ministry and strategic leadership positions him to guide the center’s continued growth as a national destination for devotion to St. Pio of Pietrelcina.

Deacon Friend also serves at the Cathedral of St. Catharine of Siena in Allentown and co-founded a Catholic YouTube ministry with his wife that reaches hundreds of thousands of subscribers. He said he looks forward to building on the center’s mission of prayer and spiritual renewal.

The National Centre for Padre Pio, located in Barto, is the largest shrine dedicated to the saint in the United States, hosting pilgrims from across the country.