Seventeen men who studied at the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity of the University of St. Thomas will be ordained to priestly ministry this spring and summer.
Nine of them will be ordained by Archbishop Bernard Hebda on May 28 at the Cathedral of St. Paul. Those seminarians, and their hometowns, are:
- Neil Bakker, Austin
- Michael Daly, St. Paul
- Paul Haverstock, Eden Prairie
- Kyle Kowalczyk, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Michael McClellan, Faribault
- Matthew Northenscold, Maple Lake
- Mark Pavlak, Minneapolis
- Brother Adam Tokashiki, Lima, Peru
- Joseph Zabinski, St. Anthony
Tokashiki is a member of Pro Ecclesia Santa, a religious order founded in Peru. Haverstock studied at the Saint Paul Seminary as well as the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
An additional eight seminarians will be ordained this spring and summer in their dioceses. Those seminarians, and their dioceses, are:
- Charles Friebohle, Duluth
- Daniel Gehler, Des Moines, Iowa
- Charles Fitzpatrick, Rockford, Illinois
- Douglas Liebsch, St. Cloud
- Charles Mugabi, Kabale, Uganda
- Barry Reuwsaat, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- Paul Strommer, Duluth
- Steven Wirth, Fargo, North Dakota
The Saint Paul Seminary’s formation program reflects the renewal in the Catholic Church instituted by the Second Vatican Council, Pope John Paul II’s Pastores Dabo Vobis and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Program for Priestly Formation. Together these guidelines integrate the four pillars of formation: human development, spiritual growth, academic study and pastoral formation.
Monsignor Aloysius R. Callaghan, rector of the seminary, said, “We are confident in the process that prepares men to be servants of the Lord, servants of the people and servants of the church.”
In addition to the graduating seminarians about to be ordained, another 15 lay men and women who studied at the School of Divinity will receive master’s degrees Saturday, May 21, at the University of St. Thomas’ commencement exercises. Of those 15, seven will receive a Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry, four will receive a Master of Arts in Religious Education and four will receive a Master of Arts in Theology.
The Saint Paul Seminary has been preparing men for the priesthood since 1894, when railroad magnate James J. Hill and his Catholic wife Mary T. Hill donated money to build a seminary on Summit Avenue. It became the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity through a 1987 affiliation with St. Thomas.
Today, more than 80 men are studying for the priesthood and another 74 lay people and members of religious communities are studying for their master’s degrees in theology.
