Seminary, Kateri parish minister retires, Cathlolic Studies celebrates 30 years, St. Jude relics on the way, Restorative justice grows, Son's blindness strengthens mom's faith, Catholic Eldercare
The director of vocations for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has a unique role in witnessing the transformation men throughout the archdiocese undergo as they prepare for the priesthood.
In the past six months, Father David Blume, director of vocations for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has noticed a bit of an uptick in the number of people inquiring about support for discerning their vocation. “Every year I think, ‘Lord, thank you for all those who are stepping forward,’” he said. “‘And I don’t want to be greedy, Lord, but if there’s a few more out there, shake the tree, Lord.’”
Q) I am a young woman who was dating a terrific young man. Things were going along really well for us when he broke up with me because he believed that he needed to enter seminary and discern whether or not God is calling him to be a priest. I want to support him, but I’m not sure how.
When Father Joseph Taphorn was in seminary about 25 years ago, and a bit prior to that time, people viewed formation as largely academic, he said. “You know, we’re graduate students and you’re going to school, or we might say ‘I’m going to seminary classes,’” he said. “We use a lot of that language in the academic realm.”
Across Minnesota, college seniors ended their semester in an unprecedented way: distance learning online due to the coronavirus pandemic. For nine seniors from St. John Vianney College Seminary, there was an additional element: the backdrop of a secluded, 50-acre retreat center along the St. Croix River.
“I am grateful to Archbishop Hebda and the seminary Board of Trustees for the opportunity to work with men who are discerning a vocation to the priesthood and forming those who God is calling to ordination,” Father Joseph Taphorn said in a July 16 statement.
Step into Msgr. Aloysius Callaghan’s office, and the first thing you see is an homage to his hometown — line art of Heckscherville, Pennsylvania, originally known as The Irish Valley, “just a little patch in the coal-mining region,” he said.
“The first minute I heard a Father Baer homily for the first time I was motivated to be a better Catholic,” Lisa Schoen wrote on Transfiguration’s Facebook page. Another commentator, Leslie Lynn, wrote, “I am just so heartbroken — he meant so much to our family. ... What a great man, priest, friend.”
The seminary announced Oct. 1 that Msgr. Thomas Richter, a priest of the Diocese of Bismarck, has been appointed the seminary’s 15th rector, effective June 1, 2018.
