Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish
Hello, and welcome back!
Now that we have covered the entire formation process, you may be wondering who oversees our formation. Who assigns us to parishes? Who sends us to a major seminary?
In general, a bishop is responsible for priestly formation in his diocese because he will eventually ordain his seminarians, but he usually assigns priests to work in formation. Bishop Zubik has assigned these priests to Saint Paul Seminary, and they perform various tasks in vocations and formation. Let’s meet the team!
Father Tom Sparacino is the rector of Saint Paul Seminary and the director of pre-ordination formation. He lives at Saint Paul Seminary, conducts formation meetings, advises Bishop Zubik on formation-related matters, and visits the theologians once each semester. Before beginning his assignment to Saint Paul Seminary and formation work, he served as pastor of the former Saint Richard Parish (Richland Township), which has since merged with Saint Catherine of Sweden (Hampton Township) to form Saints Martha and Mary Parish.
Father Steve Neff is the spiritual director at Saint Paul Seminary. He gives spiritual direction to Saint Paul seminarians, gives conferences on spiritual formation, and assists Father Tom with formation of men at all levels. Before his assignment to Saint Paul Seminary, Father Steve served as pastor of Saint Catherine of Sweden (and worked closely with Father Tom as “neighbor pastor”).
Father Ken Marlovits is the director of the office for priestly vocations. He assists Father Tom with formation, but he also promotes vocations and serves as a first contact for men considering a call to priesthood. He gives formation conferences and often asks seminarians to participate in his vocations work. Before becoming vocation director, Father Ken served as senior parochial vicar at the Holy Sepulchre/Saint Kilian Parish grouping and chaplain at North Catholic High School.
In addition to these priests, Sister Cindy Ann Kibler, a Sister of the Holy Spirit, serves as a member of the Saint Paul Seminary faculty. She is the director of apostolic works, and she gives conferences on pastoral formation. In addition, she assists with the formation of permanent deacons. Sister Cindy’s community lives just up the hill from Martorelli Stadium, and its responsibilities include maintaining and welcoming guests at the Martina Spiritual Renewal Center.
Lastly, each major seminary also has its own faculty team, members of which provide spiritual direction, serve as mentors, prepare apostolic works assignments and, to varying degrees, teach theology classes.