Father William P. Saunders was born on March 9, 1957 in
Washington, D.C. to Dr. Joseph F. and Pauline C. Saunders. In 1959,
his family moved to Springfield, Virginia here he was raised. He
has one older brother, Joseph F. Saunders, Jr.
After graduating from West Springfield High School as the class
valedictorian in 1975, he attended the College of William and Mary,
Williamsburg, Virginia. He graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of
Business Administration degree in Accounting and with membership in
Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society.
During the summer after college graduation, Father Saunders
focused on the vocation to the priesthood, with which he had been
wrestling since college. He applied to the Diocese of Arlington,
Virginia for admission into the seminary, and was assigned to St.
Charles Borromeo Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1984,
Father Saunders graduated from St. Charles Seminary with a Master
of Arts in Sacred Theology, Summa cum laude, and was ordained to
the Holy Priesthood on May 12.
As a priest, Father Saunders has served as the Assistant Pastor
at St. Mary Catholic Church in Alexandria, VA (1984–1988), the
Campus Chaplain and Adjunct Professor of Theology for Marymount
University, Arlington, VA (1988–1993), the Assistant Pastor
(1993–95) and subsequently the Pastor (1995–2000) at Queen of
Apostles Catholic Church in Alexandria, Virginia. In summer 2000,
he was assigned as the founding pastor of Our Lady of Hope Catholic
Church in Potomac Falls, Virginia, where he continues to serve.
During this time, Father Saunders pursued studies at Catholic
University, receiving a Doctor of Philosophy in Education
Administration in 1992.
He was appointed as President of the Notre Dame Institute for
Catechetics in 1992, a graduate school offering a Master of Arts in
Catechetics, Sacred Scripture, and Spirituality. On February 1,
1997, the Notre Dame Institute officially merged with Christendom
College, Front Royal, Virginia, becoming the Notre Dame Graduate
School. At that time, Father Saunders was appointed Dean of the
Graduate School.
From 1993 to 2006, Father Saunders wrote a weekly column
entitled “Straight Answers” for the Arlington Catholic Herald, the
diocesan newspaper. In 1998, he published a book by the same title,
Straight Answers, and in 2003, a second volume, Straight Answers
II. To mark the dedication of Our Lady of Hope Church and School,
he published A Labor of Love in 2008. He continues to write
periodically for the Arlington Catholic Herald and other
publications.