THE GOOD NEWS
ARCHBISHOP BELTRAN
 

HOME

Apologize and Don't Be Sorry

CALENDAR

PAST WEB ISSUES

from August 27, 2006

Saint Vincent de Paul group to open 23rd Street location
Emmaus Days and Journey With Christ 
Music Camp Allows Youths to Give Voice to Their Faith 

Largest Class in Recent Memory
Five New Faces Expand Seminary Class

   At 19, the number of seminarians this year is one of the largest in recent memory. Father Lowell Stieferman of the Archdiocesan Vocations Office credits this bounty to “more priests encouraging vocations in their parishes and asking young men to attend Emmaus Days,” the annual retreat for those interested in the priesthood.  

   “We  have  five  new  students,”  Father Stieferman said. “We have two delayed vocations, two who just graduated from high school and one who graduated from St. Gregory’s University.”

   Phillip Caughlin of St. Joseph’s parish in Tonkawa is, at age 40, the oldest “new”seminarian. He attended junior college and Oklahoma  State  University  and  spent  time working on a farm before answering the call to the priesthood.  Caughlin will be in Pre-Theology I at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans.

   Trenton Schmidt is 30 years old and the second oldest. He attended Catholic elementary and high schools in Kansas. Schmidt worked for four years as a golf-greens manager at River Oaks Golf Club in Edmond before realizing he had a vocation. He will study Pre-Theology I at Conception Seminary College in Conception, Mo. Schmidt is a member of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral in Oklahoma City.

   Cristobal Deloera is 19. He graduated from Putnam City High School after attending public elementary and middle schools. Deloera’s home parish is Saint Charles Borremo Church in Oklahoma City. He will be in his first year of college at Conception Seminary.

   Brian Hercyk is the youngest “new” seminarian. He is 18 years old and recently graduated from Ponca City High School. Hercyk is a member of the Church of Saint Mary in Ponca City where he attended the parish’s Catholic elementary school. He will also be a freshman at Conception Seminary College.

    Zakary Spitz will study Pre-Theology II at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. Spitz is 23 years old and attended public elementary and high schools before graduating from Saint Gregory University in Shawnee. Spitz is from Cordell and belongs to Saint Anne Church.

   Returning seminiarians for 2006-2007 are Tony Childers of the Church of Saint Mary in Ponca City, Gerald Curren of Saint Benedict Church in Shawnee, Billy James of Saint James the Greater Church in Oklahoma City, Carson Krittenbrink from Saints Peter and Paul Church in Kingfisher, Billy Lewis of Immaculate Conception Church in Oklahoma City, Vicente Lopez from Little Flower Church also in Oklahoma City, Robert Miller from Saint Charles Borromeo, Oklahoma City, Antonio Ojeda from Our Lady of Victory Church in Purcell, Long Phan from Saint Andrew Dung-Lac in Oklahoma City, Joe Schwarz from Holy Trinity Church in Okarche, Cory Stanley of the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mustang, Christopher Tran also from Saint Andrew Dung-Lac, OKC, James Uhlenhake also from Saints Peter and Paul’s, Kingfisher, and James Wickersham from Saint Thomas More Church in Norman.