Robert E. Keighron (born December 3, 1980) is an American media personality, businessman, and politician. He formerly served as a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in the

Diocese of Brooklyn The Diocese of Brooklyn () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the State of New York. It is headquartered in Brooklyn and its territory encompasses the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, co ...

before his dispensation from the clergy for personal reasons in 2014. He is known from his appearances on

Sirius XM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...

's '' The Catholic Guy Show'' with

Lino Rulli Angelo Gino Armando "Lino" Rulli (born October 26, 1971) is an American radio host, author, producer, and former television host. He is currently the host of '' The Catholic Guy Show'', which is aired on The Catholic Channel on Sirius XM Radio ...

from 2008 to 2014, as well as appearances with

Chris Russo Christopher Michael Russo (born October 18, 1959), also known as "Mad Dog", is an American sports radio personality best known as the former co-host of the '' Mike and the Mad Dog'' sports radio program with Mike Francesa, which was broadcast ...

on various radio platforms.

Early life and priesthood

Keighron was born in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and graduated from

Archbishop Molloy High School Archbishop Molloy High School (also called Molloy, Archbishop Molloy, or AMHS) is a four-year private, college preparatory, Catholic school for grades 9–12, located on on 83-53 Manton Street, Briarwood, Queens, New York. It is part of the D ...

in 1998. Keighron then attended St. John's University in New York, where he graduated with a degree in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

in 2002. Keighron lived at the

Pontifical North American College The Pontifical North American College (NAC) is a Catholic Church, Roman Catholic educational institution in Rome, Italy, that prepares seminarians to become priests in the United States and elsewhere. The NAC also provides a residence for Prie ...

while he studied in Rome for a

Bachelor of Sacred Theology The Bachelor of Sacred Theology (abbreviated STB) is the first of three ecclesiastical degrees in theology (the second being the Licentiate in Sacred Theology and the third being the Doctorate in Sacred Theology) which are conferred by a number o ...

degree. Keighron was then installed as

parochial vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of St. Helen Roman Catholic Church in

Howard Beach, Queens Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. It is bordered to the north by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue in Ozone Park, Queens, Ozone Park, to the south by J ...

. He also served as president of St. Helen Catholic Academy. In November 2012, he took up residence at the rectory of St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to four other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City, Queens, Long Island C ...

in order to devote himself full-time to '' The Catholic Guy Show''. On June 19, 2014, Keighron announced he would be leaving active ministry in the priesthood.TCGS Podcast #175: In NYC with Lino's mom, Pope's health, and Fr Rob's bye!
Retrieved 11 July 2014.

Broadcasting career

Keighron's radio career began in 2003 while attending the

where he was a regular contributor to ''

Mike and the Mad Dog ''Mike and the Mad Dog'' was an American sports radio show hosted by Mike Francesa and Christopher "Mad Dog" Russo that aired in afternoons on WFAN in New York City from September 1989 to August 2008. From 2002 the show was simulcast on telev ...

'', a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

-based sports radio show hosted by

. He was known as "Rob From The Vatican" and discussed sports predictions."The Catholic Guy" Podcast: Father Rob's First Appearance
Retrieved 9 July 2012 Following his

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

, he remained in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and frequently celebrated

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

Vatican Radio Vatican Radio (; ) is the official broadcasting service of Vatican City. Established in 1931 by Guglielmo Marconi, today its programs are offered in 47 languages, and are sent out on short wave, DRM, medium wave, FM, satellite and the Internet. ...

. Keighron went on to host a weekly sports television series that aired on the Diocese of Brooklyn's

New Evangelization Television New Evangelization Television, or NET-TV, is a Catholic Church, Catholic television network based in Brooklyn, New York. The network is owned by DeSales Media Group, the communications arm of the Diocese of Brooklyn, which encompasses the borough ...

just prior to his full venture into Catholic radio. In August 2008, Keighron's broadcasting talent was recognized on an international platform when he appeared as a guest on

's '' The Catholic Guy Show'' with

for a segment focusing on priests from various parts of the country. Following the appearance, Keighron became a frequent guest on the show with in-studio appearances each week. He was chosen to co-host alongside Rulli, as well as co-producer, in September 2011. On October 10, 2013, Keighron announced his departure as co-host of ''The Catholic Guy Show''; his final full-time show was October 25. He indicated that he loved doing the show, and plans for future show appearances during his

discernment Discernment is the ability to perceive, understand, and judge things clearly, especially those that are not obvious or straightforward. In specific contexts, discernment may refer to: Religion * Discernment in Christianity **Discernment of spiri ...

. His final appearance on ''The Catholic Guy Show'' was June 19, 2014, following his announcement of leaving active ministry in the priesthood. His final television appearance in a priestly capacity occurred three days following the announcement, when he returned to

as a guest host on ''In The Arena''. Keighron continued to make periodic appearances on ''The Catholic Guy'' until 2015, often in character. In 2019, Keighron returned to radio and appeared on

Mad Dog Sports Radio Mad, mad, or MAD may refer to: Geography * Mad (village), a village in the Dunajská Streda District of Slovakia * Mád, a village in Hungary * Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, by IATA airport code * Mad River (disambiguation), several ...

, where he provided an update on his life and announced his marriage. As of 2025, Keighron makes regular appearances on

Fox Sports Radio Fox Sports Radio is an Radio in the United States, American Sports radio, sports radio network. Based in Los Angeles, California, the network is operated and managed by Premiere Networks in a content partnership with Fox Corporation's Fox Sports ...

's ''The Nate Brown Show'', a

sports radio Sports radio (or sports talk radio) is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcasting of sport, sporting events. A widespread programming genre that has a narrow audience appeal, sports radio is characterized by an often-low comed ...

program and podcast, hosting a weekly "happy hour" segment discussing current events and

sports betting Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. Sports bettors place their wagers either legally, through a sportsbook or bookmaker (colloquially known as "bookies"), or illegally through priva ...

Politics

In 2023, Keighron announced his candidacy for

Rapid City Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed. It is the second-mo ...

Common Council.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keighron, Rob 1980 births Living people American radio personalities American Roman Catholic priests Archbishop Molloy High School alumni Religious leaders from Queens, New York Pontifical North American College alumni St. John's University (New York City) alumni Catholics from New York (state)

Early life and priesthood

Broadcasting career

Politics

See also

References

External links