Seminary to sponsor retreat, welcome new vice rector
Grady Gaynor, a member of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Carmel, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese, receives Communion from Father Robert Hausladen on June 15, 2006, during the first Bishop Bruté Days held at Bradford Woods Retreat Center near Martinsville.
By Sean Gallagher
For years now, many people in the archdiocese have worked to build up what Pope John Paul II called a “culture of vocations,” an atmosphere where being a priest, sister or brother was seen as a real possibility, and a good one at that, by young people and their families.
Now those efforts seem to be paying off, according to Father Robert Robeson, rector of the Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary at Marian College in Indianapolis.
One sign is that three weeks before the registration deadline, there were already more young men signed up for this year’s Bishop Bruté Days than there were for last year’s retreat and camping experience.
However, there are still slots available. Boys ages
13-17 can sign up by June 6 for the event that will take place June 13-16 at the Bradford Woods Retreat Center near Martinsville.
Bishop Bruté Days is designed to strengthen young men in their faith, build up their virtues, and open their hearts and minds to the possibility that God may be calling them to a priestly or religious vocation. Having fun through athletic activities, canoeing, swimming and campfires is also part of the retreat.
Last year’s 16 participants came from several deaneries throughout the archdiocese. Father Robeson thinks an event like Bishop Bruté Days can help young men who are open to the priesthood to feel connected.
“It makes them feel not so isolated, not so unusual,” he said. “It kind of makes the possibility of being a priest more attractive. It normalizes it.”
Half of those who came to last year’s Bishop Bruté Days are signed up for this year’s retreat.
One participant, Alex Wilson, a member of St. Louis Parish in Batesville, said of the first retreat, “These past days here in Bradford Woods have increased my love of the faith. I got to meet a lot of good, young Catholic boys, like myself, and also got to have fun with the seminarians.”
Ten seminarians from Bishop Bruté Simon College Seminary and Saint Meinrad School of Theology in St. Meinrad will help lead the retreat.
Several archdiocesan priests will give presentations, celebrate Mass and be available for confession.
Included among them will be two of the archdiocese’s newest priests, deacons Thomas Kovatch and Eric Nagel, who will be ordained to the priesthood with Deacon Randall Summers on June 2 at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis.
While Father Robeson is busy preparing for Bishop Bruté Days, he’s also looking forward to ministering with Father Paul Etienne, who will become Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary’s vice rector on July 3.
“[Father Etienne] has a deep faith in the Church, a deep love for Christ and a deep commitment to the Eucharist,” said Father Robeson. “At the same time, he’s very easy to connect with, a very approachable, kind and compassionate guy.”
Father Etienne was ordained a priest in 1992 and served as the archdiocese’s vocations director from
1995-98. He has served on the Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary’s Policy Board since the seminary was established in 2004.
“I am very excited about helping with priestly formation,” said Father Etienne, who has been pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in New Albany for nine years.
“I just have a great love for the Church, and a great love for the priesthood. And I’m glad to have an opportunity to share that with guys that are thinking about that same walk of life.”
In addition to serving as the college seminary’s vice rector, Father Etienne will be the pastor of St. Simon the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis. Although he’ll have a lot of duties to juggle, he thinks the two positions can benefit each other.
“I think my work in the parish as a pastor is certainly going to impact the experience that I bring to the formation of, hopefully, future priests,” he said. “But also, I know that the reading and the formation I’m doing around the priesthood is going to strengthen me in the role that I’m performing in the parish as well.”
Although Father Etienne’s duties at the college seminary haven’t been established, he will be working in the “external forum” with the seminarians, which is separate from the formation they receive from spiritual directors and confessors.
Father Robeson foresees Father Etienne helping him deepen the priestly formation that goes on at the college seminary.
That will become more necessary as additional seminarians at Bishop Bruté start filling up all four years of the college’s formation cycle and more dioceses send their seminarians there.
Father Robeson said that for the 2007-08 academic year there could be as many as 20 seminarians from as many as five dioceses studying at the Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary.
(Those interested in registering for this year’s Bishop Bruté Days should contact Father Robeson at 317-955-6126 or at rrobeson@archindy.org. There is a $40 registration fee for the retreat.) †
