Saint Paul Seminary alumni Deacons Nathan Pacer, Dale Mallory, Benjamin Snyder, Robert Foertsch and Joseph Littlefield all joined the priestly ranks Saturday.
The quintet of new presbyters is part of a 2022 ordination class of 18 men from eight different dioceses. Ten members of the class were ordained over Memorial Day Weekend.
Pacer hails from the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois and enters the priesthood after spending six years in seminary. He knows he won’t be doing it alone.
“The idea of how I can approach the world as it is is not because any power of my own,” Pacer said. “On my chalice I have engraved on the bottom Corinthians 2: 12:9 — ‘for my power is made perfect in weakness.’
“As long as I’m trying to do His will, [God] can work with anything I give him.”
The same can be said for Snyder and Mallory, both of whom were ordained Saturday for the Diocese of Davenport, and Foertsch and Littlefield of Fargo.
Littlefield said he learned a lot in seminary, but one major takeaway has been hope for the future of the Catholic Church.
“I’m very hopeful for the future of the Church with what I see happening at the seminary,” Littlefield said. “Our formation programs continue to get better with each passing year. But I’m most hopeful because of the men I’m surrounded with are really holy, humble, zealous and authentic in their pursuit of doing God’s will for their lives. I also think that right now the Church is being purified, which will only make her better and stronger than ever before. And because of all this, I can’t help but think that God has something very big planned for Church in the near future.”