With ordination to the priesthood just a few months away, the 13 members of this year’s ordination class (Theology IV) at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul spent three weeks together in Rome to start 2024. Two of the men were already there as students at the North American College; the other 11 arrived on Dec. 31.
The meat of the trip was a class focusing on the missionary nature of the Church and delving into documents written by St. John Paul II during his papacy. There were side trips to the various churches in Rome, plus a chance to hear from an art historian, Elizabeth Lev, who gave the men tours.
“It’s certainly a great gift for three weeks to be able to pilgrimage to Rome,” said Deacon Brent Bowman. Visits to different churches, dicasteries (papal offices), lay communities and apostolates and meeting other seminarians and lay leaders in Rome were opportunities to “quite literally, try on the global Church,” he said.
These men were joined by the seminarians a year behind them in studies (Theology III) for a total of 30. Called the Rome Seminar, the pilgrimage is part of the seminary’s overall priestly formation program. The aim is for the men to become immersed in the history and life of the universal Church. They also learned about the Church’s engagement in mission and evangelization.
One highlight for the 11 men coming from the Twin Cities and preparing for their May 25 ordination was to serve as deacons for Pope Francis at a Mass Jan. 6 celebrating the feast of the Epiphany.
“That was incredible,” said Deacon Nick Vance. “I didn’t realize that we would actually be assisting in the Mass. I thought we would just vest and then sit for all of it. But, halfway through, it comes time for the Eucharistic prayer, and one of the emcees comes over to our group of deacons and a bunch of the other clergy over there. And he’s like, ‘All right, everyone (get) up. Here we go.’ All of a sudden, they hand me a ciborium and I end up distributing Communion — just this super unexpected surprise. And I walked right past the Holy Father.”
This, and many other experiences, affirmed his calling to the priesthood, which began in Rome seven years ago while he was there for a semester as an undergraduate student at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Deacon Vance said. During that semester, he started thinking about the priesthood, which ultimately led to him to The St. Paul Seminary, also in St. Paul.
“So, I was able to go back to the place where I really felt the grace to apply (to the seminary),” he said.
The leader on this pilgrimage was Father Scott Carl, vice rector of the seminary. He provided classroom instruction, then joined the men for trips to papal offices and tours of churches. One of the men, Deacon Ryan Sustacek, said the church tours were a highlight, especially with the information Lev gave and the way she went beyond history to bring in the spiritual.
“Her expertise in art history is not just the subject itself, but she also has a deep spiritual life,” he said. “She’s also very (well) read in Scripture, and so I felt like it was a really spiritual experience to see how some of these beautiful churches were actually made to make you feel like you’re entering another world — heaven.”
The pilgrimage also provided an opportunity for the men to experience fraternity with one another and continue building relationships that will last far beyond their ordination.
“It was really special to be there with them (classmates),” Deacon Sustacek said. “Our class is very unique in both the numbers and also the age ranges that we span. I think our oldest guys are in their mid-40s, and I’m the youngest at 26. But it’s this beautiful thing where the common call unites us. We’ve been in these classes together, learning these things together, exploring the history of the Church, the present reality of the Church. And so, to go and do this together (pilgrimage to Rome) is really significant.”
Deacon Bowman had a slightly different description of the trip. “It was an adventure,” he said. “It was a great deal of fun. It was a gift for people to have that kind of time to share it with other brothers, especially those who you are (with) full time in seminary.”
