Fr. Robert Erickson, CSV, has been a Viatorian for fifty years. He is one of sixteen current members of the community who graduated from Cathedral or Griffin High School in Springfield. After graduation, he entered the Viatorian Novitiate in Arlington Heights and he pronounced his first vows in 1959.

Fr. Erickson received a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Loyola University in Chicago in 1963. He then earned two degrees from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.: a Bachelor of Sacred Theology in 1967, and Master of Teaching Science and Mathematics in 1969. During subsequent summers and during his sabbatical year, Fr. Erickson attended seven more universities. In his role as a lifelong student and as a native son of Springfield, IL, he has a keen interest in the life and work of Abraham Lincoln.

After completing theological studies at the Viatorian Seminary in Washington, D.C., he was ordained a priest in 1967 and then was assigned to Saint Viator High School in Arlington Heights where he taught mathematics and religion. In 1972, he served as assistant principal at Bishop McNamara High School in Kankakee, IL. He returned to his alma mater to serve as principal from 1978 to 1988. Moreover, for the following three years, he was vice principal and director of development for the merged Sacred Heart –
Griffin High School in Springfield. Before becoming provincial treasurer for the Province of Chicago, he spent two years working in campus ministry at St. John’s Catholic Chapel at the University of Illinois in Champaign, IL.

All during his forty-two years as teacher and administrator, Fr. Erickson has been an active priest in the parishes of the cities where he has been assigned. He has directed many retreats and workshops and has often been a guest speaker on topics of theology and spirituality.