Following decades with very few men following a call to become Alaskan priests, the tide is changing — even surging. As with most good things, however, this springtime of vocations comes with a cost — an average of about $325,000 for one man to be fully trained for the priesthood.
St. Therese’s Camp, an independent Catholic summer camp in Wasilla, spans 57 acres of forest, lake and campground facilities. The first summer camp began in 2014 and has been growing steadily ever since. Now in his third year operating the camp, Director Rudy Poglitsh expects attendance this summer to exceed 200 children.
When it comes to men training for the Catholic priesthood, the Anchorage Archdiocese has what many would consider a good problem. After years of few seminarians training for priesthood, there are now five men in formation with two more on the way. Over the past three years two other men have been ordained as priests. The challenge now is figuring out how to fund the extensive education of this growing group of future clergy.
For the second time in three summers, the Archdiocese of Anchorage will ordain a seminarian to the transitional diaconate which precedes his ordination to the Catholic priesthood. Fifth year seminarian Robert Whitney will receive the sacrament of holy orders on June 3, 7 p.m., at Holy Family Cathedral. The tentative date for his ordination to the priesthood is just over a year later, June 23, 2017.
Below are news and upcoming events in May from across the Archdiocese of Anchorage.
Below is Anchorage Archbishop Roger Schwietz’s calendar of events for the month of May.
After three years leading Lumen Christi High School in Anchorage, Principal John Harmon is stepping down this summer with confidence that the school is on solid footing and in good hands. “Stepping down from Lumen was a very difficult decision,” he told the Catholic Anchor. “Last summer I was approached about an opportunity that included another one of my passions, international travel.”
A 21-year Marine, combat veteran and former Catholic school student in Anchorage has been tapped to lead Anchorage’s largest Catholic high school.
In two separate April letters to clergy and parish leaders across the archdiocese, Archbishop Schwietz announced that in Anchorage St. Benedict Church, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, Our Lady of Guadalupe Co-Cathedral, Holy Cross Church will all be under new leadership effective July 1. Additionally, Sacred Heart Church in Wasilla, Our Lady of the Lake in Big Lake, St. Christopher in Willow and the Catholic missions in Bristol Bay will all be under new pastoral leadership.
On April 23, nationally coordinated protests will be held at more than 200 Planned Parenthood centers throughout the United States, including the center at 4001 Lake Otis Parkway (Suite 101) in Anchorage.
These protests are being organized by the #ProtestPP coalition, formed in response to the undercover videos released last year showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the harvesting and selling of body parts from aborted children.