Monsignor Scott Friend

At a special meeting of Council 10208 on Thursday, August 4, the knights welcomed most of the 33 active seminarians studying for the priesthood in the Diocese of Little Rock. The seminarians were accompanied by: Bishop Anthony Taylor; Director of Vocations for the Diocese Monsignor Scott Friend; Associate Director of Vocations Father Eric Pohlmeier; and, Prefect of the House of Formation Monsignor Richard Oswald. Other priests in attendance were Monsignor Bernard Malone, who recently returned from a trip to Philadelphia, Father Vic Bieberle, and Sacred Heart of Jesus Pastor and Council Chaplain Father Bill Elser.  

Along with the seminarians and clergy, there was a total of 225 in attendance, including 165 knights and spouses along with over 30 invited guests, most of whom were Knights of Columbus prospects and their wives.

Following a brief open council meeting (reference the minutes) led by Grand Knight Dave Johnston, Lecturer Bob Honzik, Event Coordinator, reiterated the purpose of the evening – to show support for the seminarians and their director by meeting and getting to know them on a more personal basis. Bob also mentioned that, coincidentally, August 4 is the feast of St. John Vianney, the Patron Saint of Diocesan Priests. After thanking everyone for attending and for those involved in the evening’s preparations, he introduced Msgr. Scott Friend, who was welcomed to the podium with a standing ovation.  

Bishop Anthony Taylor

Msgr. Friend thanked Father Elser for hosting and Bob Honzik for arranging and coordinating the event. Addressing the audience he said “This is a real testament that all of you would come out tonight to support our seminarians, and it is one of the reasons why the Little Rock Diocese is doing so well with vocations…and the Knights of Columbus has become a real partner with us as each seminarian is being supported by at least two councils through the RSVP grant program for a total of $33,000 last year.”

Msgr. Friend introduced Father Eric Pohlmeier and Monsignor Richard Oswald and explained their respective roles in assisting him with the various aspects of recruiting and mentoring seminarians.

In order for the audience to learn more about the personal process that a typical seminarian may experience in his journey to the priesthood, Msgr. Friend asked several seminarians to relate their stories during the course of the evening. Andrew Hart, Juan Guido, and Jack Sidler were among those chosen.  Andrew has a brother, Stephen, who is entering the seminary this fall. They are both from Little Rock, and Andrew is finishing his studies in Rome. He is one of the seminarians that has been supported by Council 10208. Jack, who is 66, entered the seminary recently after his wife died from cancer. He is the father of three children and has several grandchildren. 

The seminarians and one discerner introduced themselves by indicating their name, home Arkansas parish (or country), current location of study, and planned ordination date. This was followed by the rosary which was started by Stephen Hart with subsequent decades led by Karldy Isidor, Mario Jacobo, Rick Hobbs, John Miskin, and Ehldane Labitad.  Following the rosary, Steve Elser, nephew of Father Elser, led the seminarians and the audience in the singing of Salve Regina.

All were served a special meal with a picnic theme as prepared by Rick Hiemenz and his crew including: John DeJanovich, Bill George, Ed Harrigan, Jim Passe, Chuck Ralph, Dave Salmen, Ed Voss, Bill Welch, and Jack Widlowski.

Referring to the number of seminarians in the Little Rock Diocese, Msgr Friend related several comparisons to dioceses that are considerably larger, like Houston (10 times the size, but only 40 seminarians) and Los Angeles, but which have very few men studying for the priesthood.   Los Angeles had only five ordinations in the last two years, while there will be five next year in Little Rock. At a recent conference for seminarians interested in Hispanic ministry at Mundelein Seminary in Chicago, ten of the 90 participants from all across the United States were from the Little Rock Diocese.   Eight scholarships were awarded in 2011-2012 for seminarians to attend the Catholic University, and two of them were awarded to Little Rock seminarians, including Steve Elser, Father Elser’s nephew.

This year is the 75^th year of the founding of a seminary in Little Rock. With Bishop Taylor’s permission, a Discernment House, or now known as the House of Formation, is being established in a separate building, formerly a convent on the campus of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Little Rock. The remodeled facility will have ten rooms upstairs for seminarians as well as two apartments for priests, a chapel, meeting room, kitchen, dining room, and a common room on the first floor. Sacred Heart of Jesus is the first parish in the diocese to be introduced to this building project, which will cost about $800,000 and is expected to be completed by Easter, 2012.

The Formation House is only one mile from the University of Arkansas- Little Rock, so men needing certain academic or language skills can study there in preparation for seminary work. It will be a place of formation, including students from other seminaries who may need assistance with their English proficiency, since UA-LR has an excellent English as a Second Language (ESL) program. Residents at the House of Formation, both discerners and those with academic/language areas needing more preparation, can also experience working in a parish by assisting at the Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church as time permits.  Most of the seminaries are modeled after more of a monastic type of living, so this parish-based experience will be somewhat unique in the country.

While Msgr. Friend was talking about the Formation House, baskets were passed around for donations which totaled $1,200. For those who did not have an opportunity to donate at the meeting, checks can be written payable to the Diocese of Little Rock with ‘Formation House’ in the memo line and sent to: Diocese of Little Rock, Vocation Office, 2500 N. Tyler St, Little Rock AR 72207.

The formal part of the meeting was concluded by Msgr. Friend introducing Bishop Taylor. In his introduction, Monsignor praised the Bishop for his personal interest in all of the seminarians, whom he knows by name. He visits each of them at his seminary at least once during the year, an effort that very few other bishops duplicate. He also cares very deeply for all of his priests and supports them however he can.

Bishop Taylor began his talk by recognizing Father Vic for his service to Sacred Heart, to Pastor Elser, and to former pastor, Msgr Malone. He complimented Msgr Friend " for his personal interest in each of the seminarians and for modeling priestly behavior for them. He not only recruits seminarians, but he works closely with them until they are ordained."  Bishop Taylor asked everyone to pray in thanksgiving to God for the priests that have served in the past, and continue to serve, the Diocese of Little Rock. He also thanked Council 10208 specifically, and the Arkansas Knights of Columbus generally, for their ongoing support of the seminarians.

The evening concluded with Father Bill’s four flavors of ice cream being served – cookies and cream, chocolate, snickers, and Arkansas peach - and socializing with the clergy and the seminarians.

Check out the Photo Gallery on this site for pictures, including all of the seminarians that attended.