Josh Mcgovern

Both Deacons Alexander Hall and Sebastian Spencer began their discernment for priesthood at an early age, considered other life choices, and returned to their initial calling through prayer. Deacons Hall and Spencer will be ordained priests for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis May 30 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.

On May 30, transitional Deacons Dominic Miller and Peter Romens and four other men will be ordained priests for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The ordination Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. in the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. The two men didn’t always know they would be priests.

Deacon Peter Romens, soon to be ordained a priest May 30 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, connected his civil engineering degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth and his brief career as a bridge designer in Wisconsin to his new vocation of priesthood. It wasn’t until he was in The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul that he learned one of the pope’s official titles: Pontifex Maximus — Latin for “supreme bridge-builder.”

Deacon Dominic Miller never believed he’d be a priest. In high school and college, he was convinced he was meant to be married. Deacon Miller is the fifth of six children. He grew up attending Holy Family in St. Louis Park. Holy Family Academy was his elementary school where he played basketball against Father Joe Wappes, parochial vicar of St. Joseph in West St. Paul.

Before becoming a priest, Bishop Michael Izen was a systems analyst. He studied math and computer science in college and was hired as a programmer for 3M, based in Maplewood. For nine years, he stayed in the same department, then became an analyst and then a database administrator.

Jason Adkins, the executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC), said it is a blessing, an honor and a privilege to be the voice of the local Catholic Church “in the public square,” he said.

Effective July 1, parishioners of St. Boniface in Minneapolis will continue to attend Mass and receive sacraments at the church, even as parish assets are transferred to another owner.

In his monthly video series, Together on the Journey, Archbishop Bernard Hebda reflected on the truths of human dignity as the U.S. prepares to celebrate its 250 th anniversary and the U.S. bishops prepare to consecrate the U.S. to the Sacred Heart of Jesus June 11.

Susan Mulheron, the chancellor for canonical affairs at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said her work Archbishop Bernard Hebda has to be collaborative because that’s how she and others find wisdom and the Holy Spirit.

Melvin, center, played by Michael Koester, performs a scene from the musical “Moonshot” during a rehearsal June 10 at the Helene Houle Auditorium at St. Agnes School in St. Paul June 10. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT