Charles Michael Santoro was born on June 5, 1944, in Des Moines, Iowa, the older of a set of twin boys and the third of the four sons of Charles R. Santoro and Roxie I. McCully. He attended the public schools of Des Moines for his first three years of grammar school education and then transferred to his parish school, St. Augustine's. After completing four years at Dowling High School in Des Moines, he spent two years at Loras College in Dubuque, Iowa, before entering the Order.

In August 1964, he received the habit of the Order at St. Peter Martyr Priory, Winona, Minnesota, and was given the religious name Henry. He made his first profession there on August 16, 1965, and was assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas Priory, River Forest, Illinois, to pursue philosophical studies at Aquinas Institute, School of Philosophy, where he earned a bachelor's and a master's degree in philosophy. On August 16, 1968, he made his solemn profession there and was then assigned to St. Rose of Lima Priory, Dubuque, Iowa, where he earned a Master of Theology degree at Aquinas Institute, School of Theology and was ordained a priest on May 22, 1971, by Archbishop James J. Byrne of Dubuque. During his final year of initial formation (1971-72) he was part of the Clergy Development Program at St. Dominic Parish, San Francisco, California.

In September 1972, Father Santoro ("Chuck") began his first assignment as parochial vicar at Holy Rosary Parish, Minneapolis, Minnesota, serving for five years. In 1977 he was assigned to the campus ministry staff of the University of Arizona, Tucson, where he ministered for four years, at which time he joined the campus ministry staff at St. Paul's Center, University of Wisconsin in Madison. For 1985- 86 he took advantage of a sabbatical year at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California, and was then appointed director of campus ministry at South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota. During this time he also served as pastor to St. Paul Parish, White, South Dakota. In the summer of 1988 the Dominicans relinquished the ministry at South Dakota State and Father Chuck moved to Rosary College (now Dominican University), River Forest, Illinois, where he served as a campus minister for six years. During this time (1988-94) he also served his Dominican brothers as prior of St. Vincent Ferrer Priory, River Forest, Illinois.

During the fall of 1994 Father Chuck took a sabbatical at Boston Theological Union, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and February 1, 1995, was appointed pastor of Holy Rosary Parish, Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he had begun his ministry as a priest. It was under his leadership that ministry to Spanish-speaking Catholics of the Minneapolis area became a major focus of pastoral ministry at Holy Rosary Parish. During these years he served his community first as the house lector and then as prior of St. Albert the Great Priory (1997- 2002). In the fall of 2002 after a semester's sabbatical he moved to Aquinas College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, as part of the campus ministry staff.

In mid-July 2004, Father Santoro underwent surgery for prostate cancer and seemed to be well on his way to recovery, when on July 29 he returned to the hospital with a high fever. He was treated for an infection and was released on August 3. No sooner had he returned home when he suddenly became ill and was rushed back to the hospital - a blood clot had entered his lungs and resulted in a heart attack. Efforts to revive him were unsuccessful and he died in St. Mary's Hospital Grand Rapids, Michigan. On August 9, 2004, his funeral was held at Holy Rosary Parish, Minneapolis, the site of his first ministry and last pastorate, and he was buried in the Dominican plot at St. Mary's Cemetery in Minneapolis.