Eight years after Father Michael Hartge and Father Nicola Ventura were ordained as priests for the Diocese of Columbus, the classmates are students again.
Both were ordained in 2015, and upon the request of Bishop Earl Fernandes, they are pursuing graduate degrees.
Father Hartge is working toward a degree in canon law. He relocated to Canada in fall 2022 to study at Saint Paul University in Ottawa. Father Hartge considers it a “privilege to be able to take two years out and study.”
Sending priests for further education enriches the diocese, he said, and he is grateful for the opportunity.
“It’s enriching my priesthood to understand the code better, and then, in the future, always as I’m learning, I’m thinking of, number one, my brother priests and how I can assist them in their ministry, especially in the parochial ministry.
“And I’m also thinking about how I can be of assistance eventually, maybe to the bishop, too.”
Prior to returning to school, Father Hartge served in the Chancery as moderator of the curia, under the authority of Bishop Fernandes, overseeing those in diocesan administration. He said he hopes to aid in Chancery work after earning his degree.
He said canon law is often misunderstood as being “rigid,” but he has come to find it “pastoral” through his studies.
“There’s a lot of misconceptions that the Code of Canon Law is this book of strict rules that get in the way of pastoral work, and that couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said.
“It’s really an encouragement in so much of the pastoral work that we do, and it’s good that it’s written down and promulgated and codified (arranged into a system) in such a way that we have something to go back to, to make sure that things are done right, people are getting the pastoral care that they deserve as the people of God, that those who are giving that pastoral care, such as clerics (members of the clergy), are properly supported.”
Canon law consists of ecclesiastical law, or laws made by man, Father Hartge said, and it also codifies some divine laws, too. Divine law governs sacraments such as marriage.
Canon law protects the rights of members of the Church, including laypersons, consecrated religious and clerics. And, he said, it “spells out, too, some of the obligations of different states in life.”
While studying for his degree, Father Hartge has taken various courses, including a class on the “people of God,” which, he said, involves one of the “lon ger books in the Code of Canon Law.” The class focuses on the rights and duties of all the baptized, including the lay faithful and clerics.
He also took a class on the Sanctifying Office, which are canon laws that “describe and govern the sacraments,” as well as a class on procedural law, which ensures that people’s rights are not violated and proper procedures are followed, such as in a marriage nullity case (annulment).
Having a degree in canon law, he said, will him in advising priests particularly with questions pertaining to marriage.
There is a book in the Code of Canon Law on penal law, which, Father Hartge said, he could use to advise the bishop on penalties in the law. The degree will also be useful with ongoing changes in the diocese, he said.
“With what we’re doing with the Real Presence Real Future initiative, that’s another part of canon law, which would just be how parishes are set up. And so, pastors, rightly, are going to have questions about that – about the proper procedures for notably altering parishes.”
Laypeople can earn degrees in canon law, and being a civil lawyer is not a requirement.
“Many laypeople do earn this degree and are very helpful, either in a diocese or on their own, to have a better knowledge of the Church law,” Father Hartge said. “Sometimes it’s a civil lawyer who might be helping a diocese and wants to get to know better the law of the Church.”
Laypersons who earn such a degree can hold certain offices in a diocese. They can act as a judge on a tribunal, which is a diocesan court that investigates marriage nullity cases, or be an advocate in a marriage nullity case, he said. The degree can also be a prerequisite to teach in a seminary.
The Catholic Church is governed by the 1983 Code of Canon Law, a revision of the 1917 code. The year 1917 was the “first time the laws of the Church were placed in a cohesive code,” Father Hartge said.
His curriculum of study is governed by the Vatican and is divided into six semesters of work, he said. A canon law degree can be completed in two years, or canon law can be studied part-time. Father Hartge is taking classes in consecutive semesters and plans to graduate in summer 2024.
More than 4,000 miles away, Father Ventura is studying at the Pontificio Ateneo Sant’Anselmo, or the Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm, a pontifical institute in Rome.
“We haven’t assigned a Columbus priest to study in Rome in over 20 years, so it’s a lot of firsts,” he said.
Father Ventura was asked by Bishop Fernandes in August 2022, when he was pastor of Columbus St. Cecilia Church, to earn a licentiate in sacred liturgy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in sacred theology in Scripture from the Pontifical College Josephinum.
There are three levels of ecclesial degrees: bachelor’s, licentiate and doctorate.
Father Ventura plans to take “a lot of historic development classes” and study “ancient liturgies from archeology, medieval books describing the liturgy, our records,” as well as “translating Latin texts.”
“We’ve been celebrating liturgy since the Last Supper, really since the Covenant of Israel, but studying it as a science is relatively recent,” he said.
When he arrived in Italy in August of this year, Father Ventura first settled in Assisi and took classes in the Italian language. He said he will likely begin studies for his licentiate in sacred liturgy in mid-October.
“I’m excited to enter into the subject field and see how the Lord leads me, what might interest me,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed history, so learning more about the historical development of the liturgy, our tradition, is interesting to me.
“We can never throw out our tradition. We can develop our tradition. We should never throw it out, so it’s always good to know about it. To throw out our tradition would be like a family throwing away their photo album, even though the photo album might contain things that aren’t applicable anymore, it’s still important they know who they are.”
Catholics partake in the liturgy through participating in the Mass or praying the Liturgy of the Hours, which is prayed daily by consecrated religious and clerics. Receiving a sacrament is also participating in liturgy.
“When you go to Mass, when you go to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, Vespers, Morning Prayer (Lauds), when we go to a Eucharistic procession, when we go to Adoration, this is, in a sense, a form of liturgy. Anytime you celebrate a sacrament, that involves liturgy.
“When someone goes to confession or receives the anointing of the sick, there are liturgical actions in there. In confession, the confession of sins, the priest giving absolution, the act of contrition; in the anointing of the sick, the oil being used and the words being said, all of these things the Church has spelled out. And so, these are things to study, like development, how did we get there.”
Father Ventura said he will explore how the Church understands worship and what it means to worship God. He said worship is “predominantly a divine action,” although it involves human action, too.
The curriculum is not exploring new developments or changes to liturgy, he said, but rather a study of its history and development and the Church’s understanding of worship by “going back to the source.”
Father Ventura hopes to complete his degree in 2026. After graduating, he looks forward to serving his brother priests by being “a resource to understand where we come from and why we do certain things, and also, to be consulted when it comes to sacramental theology.”
Having a licentiate in liturgy will also be beneficial “for training seminarians, for training men to be priests,” he said, and “having someone who’s an expert to talk about these things, so they know the basics to serve the people.”