Seminarians' center expands to make room for more priests-to-be

By 2020, the Albany Diocese projects having just 37 diocesan priests serving as pastors for its parishes. But Rev. James Walsh of the diocesan Vocations Team believes "we can make that 57."

If the success of St. Isaac Jogues House (the Diocese's "house of discernment" for men considering the priesthood) is any indication, he will meet his goal.

Jogues House was just forced to move from the small rectory of the former St. Anne's Church in Waterford to a larger, unused rectory in Green Island to accommodate the increasing number of men thinking about religious life. Between six and eight men will be living there by the fall.

"These guys represent new blood," Father Walsh declared. "They bring a lot of energy" to the Diocese.

Growth

Jogues House opened in 2003, envisioned as a "hub" for vocations efforts in the Diocese.

Father Walsh explained that, while the Diocese is too small to have its own seminary, it was good to have a defined site where men considering the priesthood could gather for support groups or live in community while they decided where God was leading them.

Three "discerners" moved into Jogues House in its first year: James Ebert, Dan Ryan and Quy Vo. They are now seminarians, preparing to become priests. In fact, of the nine men who have lived at Jogues House since its inception, eight decided to enter religious life.

Turning the corner

"You never know what's going to happen in the future, but I think we've turned a corner in the Diocese," Father Walsh told The Evangelist. "More people are interested; more people are questioning" whether they have a vocation.

He attributes Jogues House's success partly to the fact that a house of discernment is "less threatening" than the way the Diocese used to work: If a man was thinking of priesthood, he had to leave the area right away to go to a seminary.

Jogues House works differently. Men live at the house while completing a year (36 credit hours) of philosophy and theology courses at Siena College in Loudonville. They pray together daily and eat dinner with Father Walsh several nights a week.

Talking it over

At the dinners, the men discuss issues and insights on the priesthood.

"I sit down with the guys and talk about aspects of what you have to do to be a good, healthy priest," Father Walsh said, citing celibacy and loneliness as two subjects that often arise. "If you're going to be a single person, there are healthy ways of living life. You've got to start working on friendships. Parishioners are also going to be part of your support system."

In addition, there is a "pastoral component" to life at Jogues House: Residents get two assignments each year in different areas of ministry to boost their skills, doing everything from teaching religious education in parishes to working at soup kitchens.

"You get the chance to know the Diocese, the people," Father Walsh observed.

New home

Jogues House's new site is the former rectory of St. Joseph's Church in Green Island. It will be home to five men already accepted to the seminary and possibly another three who are still discerning a vocation (see sidebar).

Father Walsh noted that the building needs a lot of work. Three of the men who will eventually live there are working at Camp Scully on Snyder's Lake for the summer, and others are deployed elsewhere.

But they will all assemble to renovate the rectory, blocking off an entrance to create another bedroom and making other changes.

'Fired up'

Father Walsh, who lives with the men at Jogues House while serving as associate pastor at St. Pius X parish in Loudonville, is enthusiastic about the vocations boom and the path the house of discernment is taking. He joked about hoping to outgrow even Jogues House's new location.

"I really have enjoyed it," he said of sharing living quarters with the possible future priests. "When you're around people who are excited about the future and about priesthood, it's contagious. It fires me up."

Life at Jogues House, he said, will continue to be "an opportunity to hear God in a world that's pretty busy -- to figure out where God wants [you] to go."

WHO'S WHO AT JOGUES HOUSE

The men living at Jogues House are between 21 and 23, which "seems to be a trend" in the Diocese, according to Father Walsh. They are:

SEMINARIANS

* Scott Tygett and Michael Taylor, non-natives of the Diocese who hope to become military chaplains;

* Dan Quinn and Jeffrey Ricchiuti, natives of the Diocese who just graduated from college in May; and

* Jay Atherton, a Northville native who recently completed two years of service with a Philadelphia program run by Redemptorist priests that serves the needy; and

DISCERNERS

* a recent graduate of Siena College in Loudonville, a 2005 alumnus of The College of Saint Rose in Albany, and a young man who is completing the last few courses toward his bachelor's degree from Siena. (KB)

(6/29/06) [[In-content Ad]]