This year marks yet another year with no priestly vocations to the Diocese of Gaylord. The big announcement from the Diocese is that one of the seminarians is participating in the “Rite of Admission to Candidacy for Holy Orders“. This can be described as a formality that he is continuing to the road of ordination. In the past, this would not be mentioned to any great extent as ordinations wouldd be the highlight; the lack of ordinations seems to drive this as “news” for the Diocese.
Meanwhile, Fr. Nicholas Cooper, who is listed on the Diocesan website as having taken a “leave of absence for personal reasons,” has taken a job as a Development Associate in the College of Arts and Sciences at Oakland University. Together with Tyler Bischoff, who is long gone from ministry due to “personal reasons, the situation in the Diocese remains severe. This makes the existing seminarians even more important and in need of our prayers. It should be emphasized that being a seminarian does not make one a priest. We have seen numerous seminarians come and go; when they leave, they just seem to disappear. We hope this represents, potentially, a better and more vigorous vetting process to prevent ordinations of men who should not be priests. Or is it the removal of good men?
One of the seminarians listed on the Diocesan website is on a health sabbatical. Will he return?
Gaylord Diocesan Watch will continue to monitor this situation and encourage all of us to pray regularly for vocations!