The following article was written by Sam Lucero and published in the Catholic Herald of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. It is reprinted here with permission.

SECOND-CAREER SEMINARIANS BRING UNIQUE GIFT TO MINISTRY

Sacred Heart Fr. Thomas Cassidy entered the seminary after high school graduation. Today, as president and rector of Sacred Heart School of Theology, Fr. Cassidy interacts daily with men in their 30s and older who are only now beginning their journey to ordination.

It's an interesting perspective for the 61-year-old Milwaukee native, whose own calling to serve as an ordained minister began in third grade while attending Mother of Good Counsel School.

"I admire them," said Fr. Cassidy, referring to Sacred Heart's seminarians, known in vocations circles as second-career seminarians. "In many ways, these students risk more than what we would consider the traditional seminarian. Many of them have had very successful careers. Many of them sell their homes to come here and uproot themselves."

For example, he explained, many of Sacred Heart's 118 seminarians come from places like Illinois and are planning to serve in far-flung dioceses such as Cheyenne, Wyoming.

"I think the real advantage they bring is their life experience," added Fr. Cassidy. "Their life experience is their deposit of wisdom, and they're able to give this to the church. Many of our men have been married and have children and grandchildren, which is something that I have not experienced. In a sense, it's a new mix."

What is also new is Fr. Cassidy's role as president and rector of Sacred Heart. He was appointed to the position on July 1 and was officially installed on Sept. 8 by Fr. Richard McDonald, SCJ, Provincial Superior of the United States Province of the Priests of the Sacred Heart.

Before his new appointment, Fr. Cassidy served two six-year terms on his religious order's general council and was based in Rome. From 1986 to 1991, he held dual positions of director of province planning and director of personnel.

Ordained to the priesthood on Sept. 4, 1971, Fr. Cassidy actually became a member of his religious community in 1962, two years after graduating from Pius XI High School. His early years as a priest were spent serving as an educator and earning several graduate degrees.

In addition to the Master of Divinity degree he received from Sacred Heart, Fr. Cassidy has a master of arts in political science from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., a master of arts in religious studies from Mundelein College in Chicago, and an education specialist degree in school administration from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.

Reflecting on his own vocation, Fr. Cassidy credits the sisters at Mother of Good Counsel School for pointing him toward holy orders.

"I would say on a regular basis the sisters of the school promoted vocations. I think that was the genesis of my own vocation," he said. "I had one sister, whom I had for third, sixth and eighth grade, Sr. Stanislaus. She was a positive influence, as well as a lot of people at Pius High School."

During his senior year at Pius, Fr. Cassidy decided he would enter the seminary. "But since I didn't take Latin in high school, I saw this ad for this adult vocation school. It was designed to prepare men to get the Latin they needed in those days prior to the Second Vatican Council."

An advertisement in Our Sunday Visitor introduced Fr. Cassidy to a school for adult vocations in Massachusetts. "I said, 'This is where I'm going - 1,000 miles away."

As fate would have it, the school was owned by the Priests of the Sacred Heart, whose headquarters are in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. Fr. Cassidy completed his novitiate and professed his vows in 1962. After graduating from college in 1966, he was assigned to teach at one of the Congregation's minor seminaries. Then, in 1968 he returned to Hales Corners to begin his study of theology..

"At that time it was just a seminary for our own (religious order), and since there were only 27 of us at this huge building, we decided we should look at how we should utilize the facility to the best of its ability," he said.

That is when Sacred Heart School of Theology made its transition to a national second-career seminary, open to older men studying for the diocesan and religious order priesthood. "Most of the students here are from 40 different dioceses in the United States, with a few religious here as well."

Fr. Cassidy said that community life is part of the seminary, and at Sacred Heart it has a unique flavor.

"For example, there are about 14 men here who are widowed and have their own support group. I've come to call it the Valentine's Day Club," he said. "On Valentine's Day, they have a Mass for their deceased spouses. I was impressed, first of all that they've been doing this, and second of all that they are honoring their wives in this way."

While the school of theology is in business to prepare men for the priesthood, it feels the effects of the shortage of candidates. However, said Fr. Cassidy, the men who come to Sacred Heart are more apt to complete their studies and be ordained.

"Fr. (Thomas) Knoebel, who is our academic dean, points out that the perseverance rate of second career vocations is much greater than the more typical seminarian, because the man is obviously more settled in his life than a 20 -or 30-year-old man," said Fr. Cassidy.

In general, Fr. Cassidy said Catholics need to do a better job of promoting the priesthood within their homes and their parishes.

"I happen to believe one of the problems is we've stopped asking the people," he said. "I'm here in many ways because the good sisters at Mother of Good Counsel kept asking me, 'Are you considering this?' I think if we would ask people more, more people may consider it.

"I think we have to see that priests are happy in their ministry role, that they enjoy what they are doing," Fr. Cassidy added. "I think it's part of the solution, but maybe it's also part of the challenge."