News

Seminarian seeks more than the usual college experience

By Adam Campbell

Andrew Mulloy wants more than the usual college experience.

That's why he will enter St. John Vianney Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., this fall to discern whether he has a call to priesthood for the Diocese of Green Bay.

St. John Vianney Seminary is at the co-ed University of St. Thomas, where Mulloy will take regular classes, as well as philosophy and Latin courses with other seminarians.

Mulloy says he isn't going into the seminary knowing that he's definitely going to become a priest; rather he's attempting to discern God's call in his life, and taking co-ed courses is part of that discernment process.

"I'll be more sure after four years that I'm not missing out on anything," says Mulloy, a native of Kimberly and a member of Holy Spirit Parish.

Mulloy says three things attracted him to college seminary over a public university: "The most important thing to me is that I'm surrounded by prayerful people, that I'm sharing in brotherhood, and that I'm learning to become a leader."

Mulloy says he considered going to a public university until Bp. David Zubik asked him: "Is that what you want to do?" After that, he started to ask himself what he really wanted.

He applied to the seminary about a week after meeting the bishop. He visited St. Thomas and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire on the same weekend and found that he was more attracted to the prayerful environment at the seminary than to the thought of staying in his room at night because he disliked drinking parties. Overall, he says, what most attracts him to college seminary is the priesthood discernment process and the fellowship with other seminarians.

Each seminarian must recognize, Bp. Zubik says, that "Every man's call to the priesthood is from God, through the church and for the world."

Dan Viertel, also a seminarian for the Green Bay Diocese, entered the seminary after owning several small businesses. Viertel is entering first theology at St. Meinrad Seminary in southern Indiana, after finishing his first year of seminary there.

Viertel says he had been an entrepreneur more interested in the "American Gospel" of accumulation and success than the Gospel of Jesus until he realized that his self-sufficient lifestyle "didn't achieve a thing." Finally, he says, he began to ask, "God, what is it that you want me to do?"

Dan resigned from his business to learn whether the answer to his question was the priesthood. The Berlin, Wis., native found spiritual help through Fr. Dan Felton, who encouraged him to start the diaconate program at Silver Lake College.

"It was like a snowball starting to build," Viertel says. His prayers were answered when he met Fr. Doug LeCaptain, when he was the diocese's Vocations Director. Fr. LeCaptain presented Viertel's name to Bp. Zubik for entry into seminary. The bishop sent him to St. Meinrad.

Viertel says he likes St. Meinrad's: monastic spirituality, one-on-one learning, encouragement of human formation and social skills, academics, and use of surveys to obtain student input.

The Green Bay Diocese has 20 seminarians - three in college and 17 in theology - in five seminaries this fall. To help fund the education of the theology students - which costs $35,000 to $40,000 a year for tuition, room and board and health insurance - the diocese is asking each parish to conduct a special "Hope for the Future, Help them Today" collection through the weekend of Sept. 2-3.

(Campbell is a first year theology student for the Green Bay Diocese at the Pontifical College Josephinum, Columbus, Ohio.)