CHANGING LEADERSHIP, MISSION REMAINS
If, say the philosophers,“ change is the essence of life” and“ nothing is constant but change,” then Sacred Heart proves these points— lately it has been quite a place of lively change, particularly regarding its leadership team.
One major leadership change came in
October, when Dr. Matthew Gerlach became the new dean of the Institute for Lay Ministry. He assumed the position after previous dean, Dr. Janet Diaz, returned to more hands-on ministry as director of evangelization at her home parish.
Dr. Gerlach came to Sacred Heart from the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, where he founded and directed the Catholic Studies Program, supervised the Rome Campus and Honors Program, and taught theology, philosophy, and Catholic studies. He leads the recently-renamed Institute for Lay Ministry( formerly Institute for Ministry), which facilitates admissions and provides formation for commuter students.
Another leadership transition took place on November 23. At a surprise news conference at the archdiocesan chancery, Archbishop Allen Vigneron announced that Pope Francis had named Fr. Gerard Battersby the twenty-ninth auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit. Bishop Battersby had been serving the seminary as vice rector and dean of seminarian formation since 2011.
Bishop Battersby’ s happy elevation to the episcopacy, however, came with a downside. His new responsibilities made it necessary for him to relinquish the vice rector’ s position. Sacred Heart would need a new vice rector.
That critical vacancy was filled on December 10, when Archbishop Vigneron appointed Fr. Stephen Burr vice rector and dean of seminarian formation of the seminary. Father Burr joined Sacred Heart’ s undergraduate formation team in 2005, later becoming director of undergraduate seminarians as well as director of undergraduate pastoral formation, in 2008. He began his vice rector tenure on January 1, charged with overseeing the priests who are involved in the formation of seminarians; and as dean of seminarian formation, directing the human, pastoral, spiritual, and intellectual formation of Sacred Heart’ s seminarians.
However, with Father Burr’ s promotion to second-in-command to rector Msgr. Todd Lajiness, the director of undergraduate seminarians position became open— and was quickly filled with the appointment of Fr. Clint McDonell.
As a graduate of Sacred Heart( BPhil 2004, MDiv 2008), Father McDonell is well-familiar with the seminary’ s exemplary formation program. Since his priestly ordination in 2008, he has gone on to earn a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from Sacred Heart and a Licentiate in Philosophy from Catholic University of America, where he is currently working on his doctorate. As director of undergraduate seminarians, Father McDonell will implement the seminary’ s formation strategy for undergraduate and pre-theology seminarians. He currently teaches Latin and theology in the seminary’ s College of Liberal Arts.
A final change in Sacred Heart’ s leadership team is to come. Fr. Robert Spezia will begin new responsibilities in July as vicar for clergy and director of the Office for Clergy and Consecrated Life for the Archdiocese of Detroit. Father Spezia has served the seminary for the past fifteen years as director of undergraduate spiritual formation, moderator of liturgy, and assistant professor of theology.
Happily, faculty member and experience formation director Fr. Peter Ryan, SJ, has accepted Monsignor Lajiness’ s invitation to assume one of Father Spezia’ s former stations and become the new spiritual director of undergraduate seminarians. Father Ryan will assist the men in their pursuit of personal holiness and deeper relationship with God.
28 Sacred Heart Major Seminary | Mosaic | Spring 2017