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Religion: Late Vocation

4 minute read
TIME

In the flickering candlelight of Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lateran last week, a bald, stocky American lay prostrate before the altar and was ordained a priest in the long, ancient ceremony of the Roman Catholic Church. At 53, J. Garvan

Cavanagh was a latecomer to holy orders. Father Cavanagh had been head of a wealthy family, vice president of the Hat Corp. of America and its subsidiary, Cavanagh Hats, and he had suffered strong secular temptations almost until the time of his ordination. Only recently he was told that a position high in the Administration of his friend, President Jack Kennedy, was his for the asking. But the call to his late vocation was too strong. When a priest asked, “Can Kennedy get along without you?”, he answered simply: “Yes.” After that, the priest told him, “it’s just a question of how generous you want to be with the Lord.”

Yaleman Cavanagh traces his priestly vocation to his World War II experiences as an artilleryman in Europe. Unmarried, he resigned from the Connecticut legislature to enlist in the Army, won three decorations for valor, and was mustered out a lieutenant colonel. “I don’t like to be dramatic about it,” he says, “but everything just seemed ephemeral after the war.” The death of both parents in 1957 seemed to him “a signal from the Lord,” and he decided to dedicate the remainder of his life to his church. “My College.” Once the resolution was made, Cavanagh had little trouble deciding where to go: the Pontificio Collegio Beda in Rome, only major Roman Catholic seminary specializing in late vocations.* Rooted deep in the Anglican upheavals of the mid-19th century, when many Anglicans converted to Roman Catholicism and some became priests, St. Bede’s was established in 1897 by Pope Leo XIII, who named it for the English scholar, the Venerable Bede, one of his favorites, and always called it “my college.” From the beginning, the problems of training older, mature men were far different from the problems of instructing young seminarians. “With such men, training is not merely a matter of good will,” says St. Bede’s present rector, Monsignor Charles L. H. Duchemin, 75, a St.

Bede’s graduate himself. “It has been found that an older man can work hard for a short time, whereas if he had to face a longer period of study, he would become stale and discouraged.” So St.

Bede’s crams its courses into four years instead of the regular seminary’s six.

Better Investment. Among its alumni St. Bede’s totals some 1,000 priests, including one cardinal, several bishops and archbishops. Many of its students raised children before becoming priests; each class usually has three or four widowers.

As often as possible, graduates find jobs fitting their particular skills. Former architects build churches; ex-bankers become diocesan treasurers; onetime Light-Heavyweight Boxer Father Con O’Kelly runs a boxing club in addition to his other parish duties in Stockport, England.

For Father Cavanagh, despite his many qualifications, the choice was difficult. It was necessary, he said, “to shop around for a bishop,” to find a diocese where such a belated vocation was wanted. “Around New York and Boston, with all those young Irish and Italians, they have all the vocations they want. And let’s face it, a young man at 20 is a better investment than one at 50.” Father Cavanagh’s shopping finally took him to Bishop Charles P. Greco of Alexandria, La., where priests are needed. After a reasonable amount of time working under Bishop Greco, he hopes to be assigned his own parish, “to run his own show.” But wherever his church sends him, Father Cavanagh will be happy “to do something for others. After all,” says he, “there’s more to life than piling dollars on dollars.”

* A similar college is being organized by Cardinal Gushing near Boston (TIME, Jan. 2), will start construction this summer. There is also the small Holy Apostle Seminary at Cromwell, Conn.

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