Fr. Carl Markelz, O.Carm.

Carl Markelz, O.Carm. was born in Joliet, Illinois, on August 16, 1962. He is a graduate of Saint Paul the Apostle Grammar School, and Joliet Catholic High School. He attended Loyola University where he received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in 1984.  Carl then joined the Carmelite Order and received the Carmelite habit at Saint Albert’s Novitiate in Middletown, New York.  After one year of formation, in 1985, he moved to Saint Clara-St Cyril Parish Community in Chicago, IL, and ministered at Mount Carmel High School, where he served as teacher for the next two years. In 1987 he moved to Washington, DC, where he continued his studies, earning a master’s degree from the Washington Theological Union in Moral Theology, after which he was ordained a priest on May 18, 1991, at Saint Gelasius Church in Chicago, Illinois.

Carl’s first assignment after ordination was to serve five years as a teacher and administrator at Crespi Carmelite High School, in Encino, California. During his assignment at Crespi, Father Markelz completed a second master’s degree, this time from the University of San Francisco, in Leadership in Catholic Education.

Completing his assignment in Encino, California, Carl and was appointed President & Principal of Mount Carmel High School, Chicago. During his 15-years at Mount Carmel from 1996-2011, the school grew in enrollment and went through three different capital campaigns to establish a baseball and soccer field, increase the endowment fund, and build a new building for academic and athletic purposes.  The school also established a new mission statement and began the development of a strategic plan.

During his time ministering at Mount Carmel, Carl was elected to the Provincial Council as First Councilor, serving a three-year term, 2005-2008. He was then elected Prior Provincial in 2011 and became Bursar General of the Order at the General Chapter in 2013. In 2017, Carl returned to the province as he was elected Vice-Provincial. He served in this role until 2020, when he was elected Prior Provincial.