Darci Swisher
W H EN TH E FRA NC ISCA N FRIA RS OF T H E H OLY S P I R I T W E R E F OR M E D I N 2 0 1 6 IN T H E
D I OCESE O F P HOENIX, T HEY WERE S E V E N M E N — F I V E P R I E S T S A N D T WO B R OT H E R S
W HO REFER TO THEMSELV ES FONDLY A S T H E F I V E L OAV E S A N D T WO F I S H — L E D TO
EVANGELIZE IN THE SOUTH W E S T A S F R A N C I S CA N M I S S I ONA R I E S .
Now the two original “fish” are in
school at Sacred Heart Major Seminary:
Fr. Athanasius Fornwalt, FHS, who was
ordained last summer and is studying for
a licentiate in Sacred Theology (STL),
and Bro. Peter Teresa McConnell, FHS,
who is completing his final two years of
seminary formation before ordination to
the priesthood.
According to the community’s superior,
Fr. Anthony Tinker, FHS, they were dis-
cerning where to educate their seminar-
ians when Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted,
who had received the franciscans into the
Phoenix diocese, suggested they consider
Sacred Heart. The bishop thought the
Charismatic community would benefit
from professors connected and open to
the renewal movement as well as from the
seminary’s focus on the New Evangeliza-
tion. Bishop Olmsted also spoke highly of
Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, “and said
it would be just a wonderful diocese to be
in, with a wonderful shepherd,” Father
Anthony said.
All of those factors led the Franciscan
Friars of the Holy Spirit to visit Detroit
and see Sacred Heart for themselves.
“We absolutely fell in love,” said Father
Anthony. “The whole time, we felt very
welcomed. We felt very much at peace.
Looking at the program, we said, ‘Wow,
this is academically strong, this is spiritu-
ally strong, and this is really a place where
we can send our men.’”
The community was honored to then
receive an invitation from Archbishop
Vigneron for the Franciscan Friars of the
Holy Spirit to send their men to study at
Sacred Heart.
Father Athanasius arrived first, last July,
and immediately found himself surround-
ed with other young clergy in the Licen-
tiate in Sacred Theology Program. “It felt
kind of like being at priest’s camp,” he said
with a laugh. “A lot of what’s enjoyable
about the STL Program has to do with the
camaraderie and the fraternity, and that
welcomed me first and foremost.”
He was also invigorated academically
and spiritually from the get-go. “I just was
in awe of my classes—intellectually, they’re
pretty rigorous, but really exciting,” said
Father Athanasius, noting that instead of
being mentally exhausted after class, he’s
“ready to go and preach on the street cor-
ner and pray over people.”
The program specifically supports the
charism of the Franciscan Friars of the
Holy Spirit, and has exceeded their expec-
tations, according to Father Athanasius.
“We’re not just evangelists, but we’re also
trying to develop the intellectual under-
pinnings of how we evangelize in the mod-
ern context,” he said.
Brother Peter Teresa joined Father Atha-
nasius in August. The two settled into the
rectory at Most Holy Trinity Parish in
Corktown, making Detroit the second fri-
ary of their young community.
“One of the first things I was able to
do when I got here was to go on retreat
with my classmates,” said Brother Peter
Teresa. “I really have just thanked God for
the class that I’ve entered into, the guys
in third theology. They’ve been really wel-
coming, and they’ve become really fast
friends, and they’ve definitely been like
a brotherhood and a support for me in
this time that I am away from my religious
community.”
In addition to his classmates, he has
also bonded with seminarians from the
Companions of the Cross and Society of
Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT)
communities and Chaldean seminarians
preparing for the Chaldean Rite Church,
as well as men working toward ordination
to the priesthood for Detroit and other
dioceses. Knowing Brother Peter Teresa
is part of a “family” at Sacred Heart is a
relief to Father Anthony, who was con-
cerned about sending only two members
so far away from the others in their small
community.
“It’s good to have community with each
other, but it can’t be limited to that,” Fa-
ther Anthony said. “It’s been, really, a fam-
ily, which has been such a blessing. We try
to build family in our community down
here, in every house that we have, so it’s a
blessing to hear that there’s also a family at
Sacred Heart.”
Brother Peter Teresa also was able to
spend one-on-one time with the seminary
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