The resignation of Archbishop Nienstedt from the Diocese of Minneapolis and St. Paul is of particular interest to our family. You see, Archbishop Nienstedt was the Rector at the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit at the time my kid brother was studying there for the priesthood (he was ordained in 1993).
While he was studying there (this was after he had already received BS degrees in Archaeology and Business Administration from Michigan Tech, my old alma mater) our father died in 1989. As is the tradition for when a seminarian loses a close family member, the priests from the school, as many as can attend, participate in the funeral Mass. In this case, in addition to our home town parish priest, there were an additional eight priests assisting at the mass, most of whom were professors from the seminary, with the Rector, Monsignor Nienstedt, officiating. Our small church had never seen nor I suspect it will ever again see, that many priest up on the alter at once.
I called my brother tonight but he couldn't talk long, however he promised to bring me up-to-date with the full story the next time we did talk, perhaps tomorrow. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say as he never actually got along all that well with the Rector, for several reasons, while he was in the seminary. Part of the problem was that my brother had never attended Catholic school and he had already received two degrees from a secular university and had worked for several years before he got 'the call', not exactly the normal 'prototype' for someone who goes on to become a parish priest.
Anyway, we'll see what he has to say...
OCU
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