Nineteen graduates became alumni of America’s only pontifical seminary as the Pontifical College Josephinum celebrated its 125th commencement exercises on Saturday, May 11.
The graduating class included seminarians from the dioceses of Columbus, Steubenville, Birmingham (Alabama), Gaylord (Michigan), Jefferson City (Missouri) and Wheeling-Charleston (West Virginia) and the Fathers of Mercy religious order. Students from Fresno, California and Paterson, New Jersey were granted graduate degrees from the Josephinum Diaconate Institute.
Four degree recipients were ordained as priests of the Diocese of Columbus one week after the commencement ceremony. They are Deacon (now Father) Tyler A. Carter, Master of Divinity; Deacon (now Father) Daniel H. Colby, Master of Divinity, Master of Arts summa sum laude and Hispanic Ministry Field Education Certificate; Deacon (now Father) Michael R. Haemmerle, Master of Divinity, and Deacon (now Father) David A. Johnstone, Master of Divinity and Baccalaureate of Sacred Theology.
Other Columbus seminarians receiving degrees were Christopher A. Dixon, Bachelor of Philosophy; Michael J. Rhatican, Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy summa cum laude and Matthew S. Waldman, Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy cum laude.
The day began with Baccalaureate Mass in the seminary’s St. Turibius Chapel celebrated by Bishop Earl Fernandes, vice chancellor of the college. Concelebrating were Father Steven Beseau, the college’s rector/president, college faculty members and many visiting clergy.
After Mass, more than 200 guests joined seminary priests, faculty, staff, and seminarians in the Msgr. Leonard Fick Auditorium for commencement exercises. Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Philosophy, Master of Divinity and Master of Arts degrees were conferred upon the seminarians by Father Beseau.
The Josephinum, in affiliation with the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, granted a Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology pontifical degree to Deacon Johnstone and one other graduating transitional deacon.
Deacon Colby and one other graduating transitional deacon were awarded a Hispanic Ministry Field Education Certificate. The Josephinum was one of the first seminaries in the United States to develop a Hispanic ministry program that prepares seminarians for ministry in the Latino community immediately after ordination.
Three individuals received a Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies degree from the Josephinum Diaconate Institute, which was inaugurated in response to the continuing education and formation requirements of permanent deacons. The institute offers educational programs through distance learning in English and Spanish to diaconal aspirants and candidates, permanent deacons and their spouses, and lay ministers serving or preparing to serve the people of God through ministry in the Catholic Church.
The final honor bestowed at commencement was the Pinter Scholar Award, which was presented to Rhatican. The award was established in 1975 in memory of Msgr. Nicholas Pinter, a Josephinum faculty member for 55 years. It recognizes a College of Liberal Arts seminarian who has excelled in academic formation.
Rhatican offered an address on behalf of the Class of 2024 in which he acknowledged his transformative experience of formation at the Josephinum.
Commencement marked the close of the seminary’s 124th year of forming priests. Graduates of its School of Theology returned to their respective dioceses to be ordained as priests, joining more than 1,000 ordained Josephinum alumni who serve the Church in nearly every U.S. state and 18 nations.