Most Reverend Jerome E. Listecki
Archbishop of Milwaukee
 

On Sunday evening, September 9th, during a vesper service in Christ the King Chapel, I installed Rev. John Hemsing as the nineteenth rector of St. Francis de Sales Seminary. Father Hemsing is a man who has a pastor’s heart and loves the Church. Faculty, staff and seminarians were present, along with board members, family, and distinguished visitors, representing the fact that the seminary is an integral part of the whole character of the archdiocese.

As I traveled throughout the archdiocese at the beginning of my tenure as Archbishop of Milwaukee, many would tell me of their admiration for our newly ordained priests and seminarians. There was something special about these men that captured the religious imagination of our communities. Perhaps it was the witness of their vocation, or the hope that many envisioned in their willingness to serve, but in a real sense, I believe it was the formation of their spiritual life.

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee is privileged to have a seminary in order to form and fashion future priests to serve the needs of the faithful. St. Francis de Sales Seminary is the oldest seminary in the Midwest and one of the oldest seminaries in the entire country.

There is a bond which is created among those who discern a vocation to the priesthood. For years they pray, study and socialize together. I’m always amazed at the affection our priests have for the seminary. This is a tribute to those who assisted them in their formation as priests.

The Archdiocese of Chicago was the beneficiary of the formation of one of the former priests and rectors of St. Francis de Sales Seminary, Albert Cardinal Meyer, former Archbishop of Chicago.  Cardinal Meyer was one of the original champions of “religious freedom” at the Second Vatican Council. The dedicated pastors he helped to form, some of whom served as faculty members, were also tremendous gifts of the seminary. Their lives and their work as priests spiritually challenge so many, in different ways.

Timothy Cardinal Dolan, my predecessor, during a time of reorganization, chose to preserve St. Francis de Sales Seminary because he realized the importance of the seminary to the entire faith community. He appointed Bishop Donald Hying as rector and offered a vision that formed individuals in the spirit of “Pastores Dabo Vobis” (I will give you shepherds) a work by Blessed Pope John Paul II.

In that work, John Paul stated, “Certainly there is an essential aspect of the priest that does not change: the priest of tomorrow, no less than the priest of today, must resemble Christ. When Jesus lived on this earth, he manifested in himself the definitive role of the priest by establishing a ministerial priesthood with which the apostles were the first to be invested. This priesthood is destined to last in endless succession throughout history. In this sense the priest of the third millennium will continue the work of the priests who, in the preceding millennia, have animated the life of the Church.  In the third millennium the priestly vocation will continue to be the call to live the unique and permanent priesthood of Christ.”

It is equally certain that the life and ministry of the priest must also, “adapt to every era and circumstance of life….For our part we must therefore seek to be as open as possible to light from on high from the Holy Spirit, in order to discover the tendencies of contemporary society, recognize the deepest spiritual needs, determine the most important concrete tasks and the pastoral methods to adopt, and thus respond adequately to human expectations.” We experience the work of that vision in the formation of our newly ordained priests.

Today our new rector, Father John Hemsing, continues the tradition of forming good priests, using his God-given talents in collaboration with the faculty and staff, to establish an environment for men to consider their vocational call to serve His Church by living the Lord’s command to LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

Note: This blog originally appeared as the September 19, 2012 "Love One Another" email sent to Catholics throughout the Archdiocese of Milwaukee by Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki. If you are interested in signing up for these email messages, please click here.