Our Seminarians

Click on the image to meet our seminarians. To download the latest vocation poster, click here.

4thTheology

St. Anne, Mother of Mary, Mexico
Pope Saint John XXIII Seminary, Weston

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Pope Saint John XXIII Seminary

558 South Avenue
Weston, MA 02493

4th Theology

St. James, Johnson City
St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore

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St. Mary’s Seminary

5400 Roland Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21210

4th Theology

Our Lady Of Hope, Syracuse
St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore

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St. Mary’s Seminary

5400 Roland Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21210

4th Theology

Our Lady of Hope, Syracuse
Christ the King Seminary, East Aurora

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Christ the King Seminary

711 Knox Road
East Aurora, NY 14052

James Buttner

Pastoral Year

Holy Family, Fairmount

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Holy Cross Church

4112 E. Genesee Street.
Syracuse, NY 13214

Benjamin Schrantz

2nd Theology

St. Paul, Whitesboro
Theological College, Washington, D.C.

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Theological College

401 Michigan Ave. N.E.
Washington, DC 20017

1st Theology

Holy Family, Syracuse
Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg

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Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary

16300 Old Emmitsburg Rd.
Emmitsburg, MD 21727

1st Theology

St. Patrick, Binghamton
St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore

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St. Mary’s Seminary

5400 Roland Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21210

Pre-Theology I
Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Utica
Mt. St. Mary’s, Emmitsburg

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Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary

16300 Old Emmitsburg Rd.
Emmitsburg, MD 21727

College

St. Mary’s, Binghamton
Cathedral Seminary Residence of the Immaculate Conception, Douglaston

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Cathedral Seminary Residence of the Immaculate Conception

7200 Douglaston Parkway
Douglaston, NY 11362

College

Sacred Heart, Cicero
Cathedral Seminary Residence of the Immaculate Conception, Douglaston

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Cathedral Seminary Residence of the Immaculate Conception

7200 Douglaston Parkway
Douglaston, NY 11362

College

St. Marianne Cope Parish, Solvay – Lakeland
Cathedral Seminary Residence of the Immaculate Conception, Douglaston

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Cathedral Seminary Residence of the Immaculate Conception

7200 Douglaston Parkway
Douglaston, NY 11362

We appreciate your continued prayers.

Have Questions?

Dc. Dan Caughey

As a young altar boy I would watch the priests at Mass, and my friends and I would practice the “moves” that Father made. I knew that priesthood was a possibility for me but I wasn’t pointed in that direction. In college, I found a love for Scripture and a re-fired love for the Lord. I met my wife, Mickey (RIP), who was already active in church ministries. I joined in and found joy in service to the people of the church. Sometime after becoming a commissioned lay minister, my pastor asked me to consider becoming a permanent deacon. Discernment with God and Mickey led me to ordination in 2004. At a time after Mickey died, my pastor approached me with the thought of considering the priesthood. It never crossed my mind – and I ignored the thought. A year later he again asked me to consider the priesthood. With much prayer, inquiry, time, and more prayer, I decided to ask the Bishop.

Brendan Foley

St. Francis of Assisi has been quoted as saying, “I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, he can work through anyone.” Francis’ words have been very consoling throughout my journey discerning the call to priesthood. At times it is easy to think-given my many flaws and imperfections-“God, are you sure you want me for this?” Yet, I have found it to be true that God does not call the qualified, but rather he qualifies the called.

God constantly sends his Holy Spirit to provide graces that lead me and care for me wherever I am. God has blessed me with certain gifts and talents that only he knows how to best utilize. I see it as our responsibility to respond daily, and in humility, to his generosity. I believe we do this by being totally available to love and serve. And yet, as unworthy as I am to be called to the priesthood, I remind myself often: all God asks is that I am willing, willing to trust him.

Each day I ask Jesus to make my heart more and more like his, and I pray that I am open and willing to go wherever He leads me.

Dennis Walker

My faith was always important to me when I was growing up, but I never seriously considered being a priest. I went to college, graduated and entered the workforce. Although the jobs I had were fine, I started to feel called to a life of ministry in the priesthood. At first I was afraid to give up my job, apartment and other things, but I eventually trusted God enough to give the seminary a shot.

I have entered my fifth year of seminary this fall. It has been an adventure full of wonderful surprises and I’m glad I made the jump.

John Leo Odour

Good orientation and excellent performance in my high school granted me entrance grade to the Public University. Though I was more interested to the priesthood. I joined the Consolata Institute of Philosophy an affiliate to Pontifical Urbaniana University Rome – Italy in 2005 and graduated in 2009 with bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Religious Studies. I’m currently in my third-year dual master’s program in MA. Theology and M. Divinity at Christ the King Seminary in Buffalo, New York. My vocation Journey begun as young as the age of 7 and later as a grown up joined a major seminary in 2005 with the religious order of the Augustinians (OSA), I later discontinued with the order and had work experience with different international organization. I worked with Barclays Bank International-Kenya as a tea/coffee server and rose to the position of direct sales representative. Working at the bank, I gained experience that solicited inputs by genuinely valuing others, ideas and opinions, I also developed the humility to learn from others and to place teamwork agenda before personal agenda. I ended my relationship with the Bank after a period of time and got new placement with the UNHCR based in Tanzania, for 4 years, I served the refugees from different parts of East Africa.

Serving in international organizations was a chance for more experience and humbling. Meeting different people of different cultures faced with different challenges of life. By all these I came to accept and understand the true meaning of life and the presence of Jesus Christ in serving our neighbors. These missions drew me to a feeling that Christ was calling me to explore my earlier life more united to His Salvic work.

After a lot of thought and prayer and a few gentle, and not so gentle, nudges from God, I wanted to be as open as I possibly can to the will of God and to the Holy Spirit working in my life to make the right decision with my vocation life. I decided to become a religious again with the Order of Preachers Missionaries (OPMiss-USA), while being open in following through with this vocation to the priesthood, I felt more drawn to Priesthood serving in the parish level.

Currently I am headed in the right direction by the overwhelming peace I have when I am at Mass or in the Church serving the people of God as a Seminarian for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse. I feel that I have been well mentored and to achieve such a tremendous journey is a blessing from God the Almighty. It is my appreciation to all those who I have come to know in my life during this vocational journey and to all those who are still mentoring me and supporting me with prayers to achieve my heart desires of serving the people of God in the Diocese Syracuse. With support from the intercession of St. Jude Thaddeus and St. Francisca Xavier Cabrini, I want to thank God the Almighty Father for having me open up to His Will in my life and may His Will be done.

James Buttner

During a phone interview to teach Totus Tuus after my sophomore year of college, I remember responding to the question of “Where have you encountered God?” with the definitive answer, “In my family!” Although I had not actively reflected on it a lot before, I realized that one of the most profound places that I had encountered the love of Christ was in the love of my parents and siblings.

Teaching Totus Tuus that summer, I witnessed the joy of parish life from a new perspective as a teacher and a missionary. I discovered the profound joy of giving of my time, talent, and treasure for the service of God and others. I realized that as much as I enjoyed studying physics as an undergrad, the way I was spending my free time – with the Newman community, reading about Catholicism, and praying in the chapel – revealed where my heart really was.

After graduating from Colgate University, I worked for a year and over that time witnessed how the invitation to the priesthood continued to grow in my heart. I realized that there was a desire on my heart to share the joy and beauty of my experience of a family life founded on faith, and that the Lord was inviting me to see how that could be especially possible through the diocesan priesthood. It has been a joy in the midst of challenges to navigate seminary formation and grow in the recognition that the Holy Spirit is still inviting me to follow this path. It becomes clearer with each year that the Lord’s invitation, “the call,” always challenges me but is always faithful.

Benjamin Schrantz

I grew up Catholic, but it was only when I went away to a secular college that I was able to grow in the faith. I joined the university’s Newman Center where I met a great bunch of young college age people who were serious about their own faith as well. This community quickly became a second family for me; we prayed together, we ate together, we grew closer to Christ together.

My goal was to go on and get my masters in Library Science; that is what I wanted to do. But through my time at the Newman Center, I started to get the inkling that God had other ideas for me. It was through my experiences at the Newman Center that placed the kernel within my heart that maybe, just maybe, God was calling me down another path.

After graduating from undergrad, I was accepted into the various graduate programs I applied for, but something did not seem right. So I ended up taking some time off from school and went to work full time at my home parish. It was during that time that I really became immersed in parish life, and the idea that God was calling me to “put into the deep” (Luke 5:4) kept coming back – stronger each time.

And before I knew it, I was applying for seminary. It is hard to believe, but I am already in my third year of seminary formation! And I have never been happier! God’s ways are mysterious, but when you allow Him to work in your heart, He will fill your life with an abundance of grace and peace.

John Brusa III

Growing up, my dream was to be a meteorologist. I wanted to be the guy on TV every evening giving the weather forecast. But God had other plans for me. I really initially found my faith after going on a Steubenville Youth Conference trip the summer before my sophomore year of high school. As time went on, I grew deeper in my faith, but still had the desire to become a broadcast meteorologist. That all began to slowly change when I discovered the soon to be Blessed Fulton Sheen.

Scrolling through my Instagram feed one day, one of the Catholic pages that I follow posted a quote by Fulton Sheen. Curious as to who he was, I read his Wikipedia page and was intrigued. Before I knew it, I was spending my study halls in school watching old episodes of his show Life is Worth Living. His life was an inspiration to me, and I began to think how awesome it would be to be like Bishop Sheen and save as many souls as he did.

A couple weeks later (towards the end of my senior year of high school), I found myself at Fr. Matthew Lyons’ ordination to the priesthood. I still do not really know why I went, but I remember being very impressed by the liturgy. I couldn’t get the thought out of my head that that could be me up there someday, giving myself completely to God and His church.

At that point, I began to seriously discern the priesthood. Once school got out, I began to go to mass every day and started to meet with a couple priests in order to get some advice on how to discern. It was still a thought in the back of my head though, as I still wanted to get a meteorology degree and maybe enter the seminary after that. But after attending a Steubenville conference one last time with my youth group, I really felt called to enter the college seminary. The day I got back home, I scheduled a meeting with my pastor and a few weeks later started the seminary application process. After spending a year at SUNY Oswego as a philosophy major, I was accepted by the diocese and entered Cathedral Seminary House of Formation in Queens, NY.

Having been at Cathedral Seminary for over a year, I am certain I am where God wants me. I can see myself growing deeper in my relationship with God, and the friendships that I have formed here are ones that will last a lifetime. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me in the years to come.

Joseph Ryan

I came from a typical Catholic family—Sunday Mass, grace before meals—nothing exceptional, but God was certainly a part of my life growing-up. After enrolling at Seton Catholic Central from public school in eighth grade, I began to grow in my faith and see the Church as something more than just a place to go on Sundays. But the idea of priesthood never really entered my mind; I knew what I was going to do with my life: law and politics. I had a plan and wanted to change the world, so God’s plan was not much of a factor in my decision when applying for college at Catholic University in Washington, D.C.

When I arrived on campus in August 2017, I had no idea I would be leaving my new home not in four years, but in one. Things were going according to my plan—great classes, new friends, an internship on Capitol Hill—but God had other things in mind. It was at the Mass of the Holy Spirit where I first felt a restlessness and uncertainty in my heart about the plan I had made for myself. Not knowing what this feeling was, and with an enkindled sense of faith, I brought this unease to prayer. I reflected during Holy Hours and masses on why I wanted to study law and enter politics and concluded that it was my strong desire to change the world for the better and make a life better for those around me. Then it hit me that there could be no more meaningful gift than to bring the grace of God into someone’s life in the Sacraments. Particularly, that there could be no greater change in the world than to bring Jesus Christ’s Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity into our midst in the Eucharist. Over the next few months, I reflected on Scripture and spoke to friends and priests about my discernment, trying to find what the Lord was asking of me.

It was at this point that a priest told me that I should consider applying to the seminary, even if I was not certain of where the Lord was calling me. Being told that the seminary is the best place to discern, I began serious consideration of applying. I realized that I must not be perfect to enter, but rather I must be open to becoming perfect, to allowing the Lord to work on me and make me into the man I was called to be, living out whichever vocation He might will for me. With this pressure removed, and my excitement for the possibility of studying in the seminary growing, I applied and was accepted by the Diocese for the college seminary at Douglaston, New York—Cathedral Seminary House of Formation. A year and a half into my formation, my discernment of my vocation has led me to a deeper faith, a fuller understanding of the priesthood, and a greater confidence in the path I am on. I thank God for the graces I have received in my life and for the many blessings that have brought me to where I am today; I continue to pray for an increase in answered vocations in the Diocese of Syracuse, that more young men who are called by God to the priesthood might grow in faith and humility so as to be able to answer the Lord’s Call

Cornelius Deep

It is always interesting to read about one particular moment in which someone then realized what their vocation was, but, for me, it was more of a gradual “knocking at the door.” Growing up, I was involved in my parish as an altar server, part of the youth group, sacristan, and also attended the local catholic school. I also had great priest role models in my life. So, it was natural for the priesthood to be on my mind since I was little. However, it would come and go as I would acknowledge that I might have a vocation to the priesthood, but I wanted to push it away and pursue other things. During the beginning of my Senior year of high school, when I was deciding on what colleges I was going to apply to, by the grace of God, I came across The Catholic University of America in Washington DC. I immediately fell in love when I visited because it was what I was looking for deep down: a chance to be able to really deepen my faith life as well as receive a great education. It was during my freshman year of college at Catholic U that I began to come to terms that God was calling me to the priesthood, and I was beginning to accept this in my heart. During my four years at CUA, I really flourished in my prayer life by attending daily Mass, praying the rosary daily, spiritual direction, and adoration. All of this helped my will conform to God’s will. I am tremendously blessed to be able to study for the priesthood at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary seeking to grow in the four dimensions of formation: spiritual, intellectual, human, and pastoral. Lastly, my one piece of advice for anyone discerning a religious vocation is to spend time in silent prayer because it is only when we step away from the business of the world that we can hear the soft voice of God.

Douglas Villanella

The first inclination of me being a priest came to me around the age of five. Afterwards,
most of my thoughts and actions revolved around this idea. I often “played” Mass with siblings
and other catholic family friends, and was always the priest. My mother even made small
vestments for me. This idea stuck with me throughout all of my childhood; it was all I wanted to
do when I grew up.

I was blessed to grow up in a household where our faith was strong and was definitely
our top priority. We always went to Mass when it was required, and we frequented to
sacraments. My desire for the priesthood remained throughout my childhood, but wasn’t
necessarily the first thing on my mind for about two years in my early teens. I still wanted it, I
was just less passionate about it , and discerned other possibilities to rule them out.

When I was close to turning 18, my parents told me that I had to start figuring out what I
was going to do with my life. So my first thought was, “Priesthood, but should I go to a religious
order, or the diocese?” After doing some research and praying for clarity, I decided to call the
diocese. This was where my heart was pulling me so I started the process for this path, and here I
am!

In my year of discernment before entering the seminary, and in my first few months as a
seminarian, I have found it spiritually enriching and I have learned a lot about myself, and the
call to the priesthood. I feel very blessed and honored to discern such a marvelous vocation as
the priesthood.

Thanks be to God and our Blessed Mother!
Douglas Villanella

Gianni Verginio

For as long as I can remember I have always thought of the priesthood. My grandma played a huge role in my discernment. She always brought me to mass as a child and she would always sit me down and teach me about the teachings of the church and the Bible. I was always excited as a child to learn more about my faith and God. That was one of the many things I looked forward to when going to my grandmas house. As I got older that part of my discernment carried over to my later years in middle school. Where I joined a youth group first started by Father Jamie Schultz. Father Shultz played a huge role in my discernment because he pushed me to be apart of youth group and to become an alter server.Being an alter server is such a blessing in my life! When I grew even older going into my early years of highschool I fell away from my faith for a little bit. I was not as hyped up to go to mass, it felt like a burden to me and I just felt like God was getting in the way of me wanting to do my own thing. At the end of my freshman year of highschool my parish, Sacred Heart church in Cicero, got a new pastor, Father Richard Prior. He came up to me one day and told me I have to go on this week long leadership retreat conference. At first I thought to myself ” I am not a leader, I am way too shy and awkward to be one.” And he continued to ask me every time I saw him, so I said ” Ok I will go.” The retreat was awesome! The whole week was amazing! I never experienced God’s love and mercy in such a way before! And in this retreat,God reaffirmed my vocation to becoming a priest. This retreat played such a huge role in my later years of discernment and it was all because Father Prior pushed me. As I went deeper into my years of highschool I continued to pray and discern and follow God’s path for me. I continued to go on youth group retreats, Steubenville conferences and more. I made some great friends along the way who have helped me out in my discernment. Such as one of my brother seminarians, Carlos Gonzalez. He continues to help me out in my discernment by constantly being there for me when I need it the most and just being an overall great friend. This has been one heck of a journey and it is just getting started.

Carlos Gonzalez

I was 16 years old, late into my sophomore year of high school when I first started to think about the priesthood. Before I was 16, becoming a priest never even crossed my mind, despite having members of the clergy in my family. Growing up, I wanted to be either a high school teacher or a lawyer. This changed when over time, when I began to think about my future. I began to rethink the two jobs I have always wanted, for a reason I had not known. Because of this, I began to pray to God and ask Him what he wants me to do with my life because at this point I was sure God was calling me to something different. While praying and discerning about what God was calling me to do, a particular family member and his job kept coming to mind, and every time I thought about this particular job, I felt as if God was telling me to take a deeper look at this. This was my cousin Fr. Joseph Scardella who he himself is a priest for the Syracuse Diocese. After taking time to pray over this and discerning this, I called my cousin Fr. Scardella, and Fr. Paul Angelicchio whom my family has known for years, and both of them helped steer me in the right direction by giving me advice on discernment and how to better understand “the call.” To them, I am very grateful for their help.

The decision to enter seminary was not an easy decision for me. However, after two years of discerning, and talking with priests and seminarians from around the Diocese, I knew that it was time. I realize this is only the beginning of my journey, and I owe a heartfelt appreciation to my family for their great support, to my mentors: Fr. Richard Prior, Fr. Daniel Muscalino, and John Sheridan who have just been a great inspiration and a great deal of help throughout my journey!

Our Seminarians

Click on the image to meet our seminarians. To download the latest vocation poster, click here.

4thTheology

St. Anne, Mother of Mary, MexicoPope Saint John XXIII Seminary, Weston

Pope Saint John XXIII Seminary

4th Theology

St. James, Johnson City St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore

St. Mary’s Seminary

4th Theology

Our Lady Of Hope, SyracuseSt. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore

St. Mary’s Seminary

4th Theology

Our Lady of Hope, SyracuseChrist the King Seminary, East Aurora

Christ the King Seminary

Pastoral Year

Holy Family, Fairmount

Holy Cross Church

2nd Theology

St. Paul, WhitesboroTheological College, Washington, D.C.

Theological College

1st Theology

Holy Family, SyracuseMount Saint Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg

Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary

1st Theology

St. Patrick, BinghamtonSt. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore

St. Mary’s Seminary

Pre-Theology IOur Lady of Lourdes Church in UticaMt. St. Mary’s, Emmitsburg

Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary

College

St. Mary’s, BinghamtonCathedral Seminary Residence of the Immaculate Conception, Douglaston

Cathedral Seminary Residence of the Immaculate Conception

College

Sacred Heart, CiceroCathedral Seminary Residence of the Immaculate Conception, Douglaston

Cathedral Seminary Residence of the Immaculate Conception

College

St. Marianne Cope Parish, Solvay – LakelandCathedral Seminary Residence of the Immaculate Conception, Douglaston

Cathedral Seminary Residence of the Immaculate Conception

We appreciate your continued prayers.

Have Questions?

Dc. Dan Caughey

Brendan Foley

Dennis Walker

John Leo Odour

James Buttner

Benjamin Schrantz

John Brusa III

Joseph Ryan

Cornelius Deep

Douglas Villanella

Gianni Verginio

Carlos Gonzalez

St. Anne, Mother of Mary, Mexico
Pope Saint John XXIII Seminary, Weston

St. James, Johnson City
St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore

Our Lady Of Hope, Syracuse
St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore

Our Lady of Hope, Syracuse
Christ the King Seminary, East Aurora

St. Paul, Whitesboro
Theological College, Washington, D.C.

Holy Family, Syracuse
Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg

St. Patrick, Binghamton
St. Mary’s Seminary, Baltimore

Pre-Theology I
Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Utica
Mt. St. Mary’s, Emmitsburg

St. Mary’s, Binghamton
Cathedral Seminary Residence of the Immaculate Conception, Douglaston

Sacred Heart, Cicero
Cathedral Seminary Residence of the Immaculate Conception, Douglaston

St. Marianne Cope Parish, Solvay – Lakeland
Cathedral Seminary Residence of the Immaculate Conception, Douglaston