The Heart of a Shepherd campaign, an initiative to support renovation at Borromeo Seminary and Saint Mary Seminary in Wickliffe, priests in their retirement and relief from educational debt for newly ordained clergy, is entering its final rollout to a large cohort of parishes across the eight-county Catholic Diocese of Cleveland.
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In celebration of the campaign’s momentum, Bishop Edward Malesic was joined by Father Mark Latcovich, president-rector of Borromeo and Saint Mary seminaries, and Rick Schultz, campaign chair, at an event Sept. 20 at the Center for Pastoral Leadership in Wickliffe, where the seminaries are located. During the livestreamed event, they spoke about the campaign highlights and addressed the work that remains as the campaign enters its final phase.
Also addressing the group was Patrick Grace, executive director of the Catholic Community Foundation, and Mary Lou Ozimek from the foundation staff. Father David Bline, seminary spiritual director, offered prayer. He noted that it was the feast of St. Andrew Kim and the Korean martyrs. The seminaries have had a longtime relationship the Archdiocese of Daegu, South Korea, which offers an opportunity for Korean seminarians to study at the Cleveland diocesan seminaries. Currently, there are two Korean seminarians in formation.
The bishop said it’s important to provide a good environment for the men in formation, which will be the result of the Heart of a Shepherd campaign.
Father Latcovich said 73 men are studying at the seminaries this year – most from the Cleveland Diocese – but there are some from the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown and the two from Korea.
“Bishop (David) Bonnar (of the Youngstown Diocese) is committed to sending his seminarians here and he made a financial commitment to the campaign,” Father Latcovich said. “We are also grateful for the religious orders, including the Capuchins (Franciscans) who send their seminarians here.”
The building is sturdy, but getting old and was showing its age, Father Latcovich said. The idea to renovate the seminaries dates back to about 2005, during Bishop emeritus Anthony Pilla’s time. The late Bishop Richard Lennon also supported the project, which was starting to move forward when he retired. Bishop Nelson Perez, now archbishop of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, began the campaign in earnest in 2019, prior to his new assignment.
“Archbishop Perez handed the campaign over to me,” Bishop Malesic said, recalling how he wielded a large sledgehammer last November to begin the construction symbolically.
The first phase involved gutting the east wing of the building, reconfiguring the floor plan to make rooms 40% to 50% larger, improving plumbing, updating wiring, heating air conditioning and ventilation and adding a sprinkler system. “We’re providing formation for the 21st century,” Father Latcovich said. Once that work is completed in November, construction will begin on the west wing.
Before work began, the seminarians lived in small rooms with one outlet and no air conditioning.
“When we dropped our son Patrick off (to begin his formation), we were shocked at how small the rooms were,” Schultz said. But it grew on us. This place is magical, spiritual.” His son, Father Patrick Schultz, who was ordained in 2016, is a parochial vicar at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Wadsworth and ironically, was appointed by his pastor to oversee the campaign at the parish.
Ozimek, who works with parishes on their campaigns, said they began with 10 parishes in the first phase. Originally, there were three main components to the campaign: building renovation, increasing the pension fund for retired priests and helping newly ordained priests reduce their college debt. After the pandemic hit, Ozimek said it became evident that parishes had needs to address so the campaign was redesigned with a fourth component that would help parishes address their needs.
“We’ve reached 80% of our goal, with about $23.9 million in commitments and about $9.6 million returned to parishes,” she said. About 6,600 donors pledged support to the campaign.
“Thank you to the pastors, donors, seminarians and others how supported the campaign,” she said.
“This campaign shows the importance of volunteers and lay leadership,” Grace said
Schultz said when he was invited to lunch with then-Bishop Perez, “I had no idea what I was stepping into. We had one foot on the pedal and then COVID-19 hit so we went radio silent. We weren’t sure what to do.”
When the campaign was reactivated, Schultz said parishes could share in the money they raised. “Sixty cents of every dollar is returned to the parishes,” he said. And he knows what it’s like to present the campaign in a parish because he was named to lead the initiative at St. Mary Parish in Hudson.
“If I’m going to sell it, I have to believe in it,” Schultz said, noting he met with the architect and general contractor. “They’re amazing and this is a darn good project. It’s money very well spent.”
Grace credited pastors across the diocese for their support of the campaign, noting, it “wouldn’t be what it is without their support.”
Bishop Malesic called it “a first class job. This is a sign that we want the seminary to stay here for decades to come and we want it to be a worthy place.”
The event concluded with a hard-hat tour of the seminaries’ newly renovated west wing so attendees could view the progress.
“I am deeply grateful to the people of the diocese whose generosity will help in forming our priests for today, as well as those who will be ordained in the future. This campaign is also helping our parishes where these men will serve as leaders. Through their participation, the faithful provide for our Church for the future and decades to come,” the bishop said.
The campaign, conducted by the Catholic Community Foundation, has a final group of more than 80 parishes that will participate in the fall rollout.
For more information on the Heart of a Shepherd campaign, click here.