Call to the Priesthood: Leading the Catholic church

The Catholic priesthood is an exclusive group.

Just 39,600 priests serve 78.2 million Catholics in America, and the priest pool shrinks each year.

Young blood still is entering the seminary, but it's not enough to replace aging priests who retire or die.

It's hard to find young men willing to answer the call. Being a Catholic priest means forgoing a fancy car, oversized home and any notion of getting married or having children.

God still is making calls to young men, though. It's a matter of getting them to answer.

"I began to say, 'Lord, you've got the wrong guy,' " joked the Rev. Robert Garrity, director of campus ministry at Ave Maria University.

The News-Press spoke extensively with two Southwest Florida men who got the call. One, Anthony Lane Janus, entered a period of deep spiritual exploration, but faced a fork in the road just days prior to graduating from Ave Maria. The other, Michael Scaramuzzo II, proclaimed his religious aspirations to none other than the pope himself, but his life also took a few unexpected turns.

Religious roots

Janus, 22, was born and raised in Mississippi, and baptized as an Episcopalian. At age 4, his family started going to Sunday Mass, marking a slow immersion into Catholicism.

"I was taught to pray before I went to bed and always went to church on Sundays," Janus said.

Still, that was about it, other than reading children's religious books and singing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus each Christmas.

After his sophomore year of high school, Janus traveled alone to Naples, Italy, to visit family. His aunt handed him a rosary, asking Janus to have a priest bless it during a day trip to Rome. He did, but quickly found himself in confession for the first time in years.

"That helped me purge a lot of sin from my life," Janus said.

In Janus' junior year, a friend persistently kept asking if he would attend her church group. "No thanks" was his standard response.

"She asked me probably eight times before I came," Janus recalled.

Once football season ended, though, he never missed another meeting.

Related:

Extensive education, training is required for priests

Priests in high demand as Catholic population rises

Pretend preacher

Scaramuzzo describes himself as a "cradle Catholic," born and bred into the religion. Although he attended public school on Staten Island in New York, the church enveloped his family's life.

"A lot of kids hated Mass. Not me," Scaramuzzo said. "They thought it was boring; I thought it was kind of interesting and I enjoyed it.

"That was sign No. 1."

When Scaramuzzo's aunt visited a friend in the convent, he often tagged along.

"They were always so happy," Scaramuzzo recalled.

Seeing nuns in their element, happy, got Scaramuzzo thinking about the priesthood. He rounded up his little sister and dog; they became the parishioners. He brought a glass of water and candy; those served as make-believe wine and communion hosts. And then he preached.

"I started feeling the pull to be a priest in middle school, in sixth grade," Scaramuzzo said. "When you say that so young, no one believes you.

"But it never went away."

Spiritual awakening

Janus felt the Lord was calling him.

"This call is not about me, my strengths, my weaknesses or my abilities," he said. "I recognized He is the one who calls and helps me answer that call. He has asked me to be faithful and follow Him."

God asked Janus to consider being a priest.

A priest.

This from the teenager who watched ESPN for hours on end and was content playing video games all day.

"I pretty much sought my happiness in football and girls, and everything else around me," said Janus.

After his junior year of high school, Janus did some more soul-searching.

"I looked at the crucifix in my room, and started praying," Janus said.

As conversations and prayers progressed, Janus felt certain God wanted him to become a priest.

"We felt blessed that God was calling our son," said his mother, DiannaJanus.

After graduating high school, Anthony Janus spent one year working for NET Ministries, a Minnesota-based youth counseling organization. That experience led Janus to Ave Maria, a relatively new Catholic university founded in traditional teachings.

"There are so many good people here," Janus said. "The education I received and how I've grown are huge, but the community is why I'm flourishing."

As an upperclassman, Janus led a youth group that met every Wednesday at Our Lady of Guadalupe in Immokalee, mentoring and advising teens who were asking the same questions about God and spirituality that he did a few years ago.

Fellow Ave Maria graduate Jesse Garcia, 23, believes three qualities help define Janus: He loves people, is very studious and willing to help anyone at any time.

"If you don't know what you're doing or you don't know what's going on, he's the first one to stay up with you until 5 o'clock in the morning to help you write a paper," Garcia said. "He's very caring, he's very giving and he's very Christlike."

American pope

Many of Scaramuzzo's classmates at St. John Vianney were inspired by Pope John Paul II, who led the church from 1978 to 2005. He died, however, when Scaramuzzo was 11. Pope Benedict XVI, even though his tenure was briefer, served as Scaramuzzo's religious curiosity was ascending.

Pope Benedict visited the U.S. in 2008, and one of his stops was New York. Scaramuzzo asked his mother to work her magic; he wanted to see the pope.

"I said, 'Binoculars, in the parking lot, that's the best I can do,' " said Barbara Scaramuzzo.

Michael Scaramuzzo, then a high school freshman, learned of plans to have a student on stage while Pope Benedict received his birthday greetings at St. Joseph's Seminary. Scaramuzzo wrote an essay about what the encounter would mean to him, and won the contest.

Destiny. Scaramuzzo found himself face to face with the pope, whom many feel is the most powerful and respected leader in the world. So what did the 14-year-old say?

"I told him I wanted to be the first American pope," Scaramuzzo recalls. "Now, looking back, that's probably not what I want. I just want to be a good parish priest, a good pastor and a good shepherd."

Pope Benedict smiled and blessed the 14-year-old.

Doubts surface

With Ave Maria's commencement quickly approaching, Janus completed his seminary application in mid-April. A seminary is like graduate school, boarding school and internship wrapped into one.

"There is a little fear of the idea of being in school for another five years with 200 men and no females, and none of my friends," Janus said.

But that's what it takes to become a priest. The lengthy period of study and reflection is a critical path in the discernment process. The church doesn't want priests who are iffy about the profession.

If seminarians make it through the process, diocesan priests are rewarded with little pay, while priests within religious orders take a vow of poverty. Their work schedule runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days per year. As a priest, you're never off the clock.

And every night, they go home alone. For an extrovert like Janus, the sense of loneliness poses an extreme challenge.

"Yes, I won't have a beautiful wife and beautiful children, but I would have a beautiful church and enter a theological union with every member of the church," Janus said in April.

Life's curveballs

Scaramuzzo attended a Catholic high school, but sought more spiritual guidance. He participated in Cathedral Prep's discernment program, a once-a-month weekend excursion in Yonkers that resembled a pre-seminary. He developed strong emotional and spiritual bonds with like-minded teens, but he learned the most about himself and God during quiet periods.

"We have to take time away from everything," he said. "Silence is not valued high in today's society. No matter your vocation, married life or priesthood, you need to step back and think about it."

Like all technology-obsessed youth, Scaramuzzo is active on social media. He comments about pop culture and makes random observations, but also floods his post with news from the Vatican and religious messages, the "new evangelization," as he calls it. But Scaramuzzo minimizes his time on social channels to avoid draining his mind of all semblance of reality.

"If you spend more time on Facebook and Twitter than having real conversations, that's a sign you're on there too much," he joked.

Scaramuzzo planned to attend Fordham University, where he would study philosophy in a special track designed for aspiring priests. Then in January of his senior year of high school, he was told Fordham's program was closing, and instead he could attend St. John's University. St. John's, though, didn't feel right.

He then applied to Franciscan University in Ohio and Ave Maria University. For a New Yorker, Florida looked terrific. Scaramuzzo spoke with an adviser at Ave Maria, who put him into contact with the Rev. Cory Mayer, pastor of the Ave Maria quasi-parish. Mayer doubles as vocations director for the Diocese of Venice.

Rather than complete four years of undergraduate studies at a university, Mayer helped Scaramuzzo earn the endorsement of the Diocese of Venice for a coveted spot at St. John Vianney. To gain admittance, seminarians must have a deep love for God and a spiritual maturity beyond their years.

"He already had reached that stage," Mayer said of the teenager.

After Scaramuzzo broke the news to his parents that he committed to the Diocese of Venice, they broke some news to him. They were retiring and moving to Venice.

Two weeks after they moved, Superstorm Sandy struck the Northeast.

God throws curveballs for a reason.

"You handle it like everything else; hold on and enjoy the ride," Scaramuzzo said. "You have to know what God's plan is, and follow it to the best of your ability."

A decision, for now

Just nine days before graduation, Janus decided to indefinitely postpone his seminary plans.

For the past year, he developed a solid friendship with a female classmate at Ave Maria. They shared strong spiritual, emotional and academic connections, but neither acted on their mutual attraction because of Janus' intention to enter the seminary.

"After a lot of prayer, confusion and effort to seek God's will," Janus realized God wasn't telling him what to do, rather guiding him. And He was guiding Janus down a different path.

"I was able to recognize that a new path was something I could either choose not to act upon, or I could act upon it with the Lord's blessing," said Janus, who supports the church's staunch belief that priests should be celibate and unmarried.

Janus isn't the first to change direction, not even on Ave Maria's tiny campus. President Jim Towey contemplated the seminary for five years, but as he says, along came Mary — his wife of 22 years.

"Some people have a bright light flashing that makes it clear, but for most people, it's a long winding route to another destination," Towey said. "The worst thing you can do is begin the seminary and still be wrestling with these things. It's smart that he's trying to figure it out now."

On May 9, Janus submitted a graduate school application to Ave Maria. On May 10, he graduated. On May 11, he headed back to Mississippi for the summer.

"How it will all play out, I don't know," Janus said.

Young leader

Still 17 at the time, Scaramuzzo was the youngest seminarian at St. John Vianney. Some of his classmates were old enough to be his father. It's something he's grown accustomed to.

"I was the youngest in my dinner party tonight by 33 years. #fountainofyouth," he tweeted last week.

If he completes the seminary on time, Scaramuzzo will be ordained at age 25. Rookie priests rarely are immediately handed a parish, instead serving as parochial vicars, essentially assistants, to continue learning the ropes. However, he'll still be qualified to preside over Mass — this time with real parishioners, not his sister and dog — and perform sacraments, counseling and other priestly duties.

Down the road, Scaramuzzo expects some folks will have difficulty calling him Father Mike, simply because he'll be in his mid-20s. He expects older, wiser parishioners will scrutinize his every move, his every mannerism, his every homily. That's why he has studied elder priests to see how they counsel couples having marital challenges.

In addition to classroom studies, Scaramuzzo spends two hours daily in prayer. When the spring semester ended two weeks ago, the diocese assigned Scaramuzzo to St. Cecilia's in Fort Myers. He'll be assisting priests, honing his budgeting skills, counseling Southwest Florida youth, visiting the elderly and sick, and writing a weekly article for the church bulletin.

In August, Scaramuzzo will return to the seminary for his final year of undergraduate studies. Then, it's off to graduate school for seminarians.

Scaramuzzo already has dreamed about his ordination, where seminarians officially give themselves to Christ. That will be a proud moment, something he's awaited since those make-believe Masses in his bedroom.

"When God calls, I mean, who am I to say no?" he said.

Anthony Lane Janus

• Age: 22
• Hometown: Starkville, Miss.
• College: Ave Maria University graduate
• Favorite book: "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis
• Favorite TV show: ESPN's "SportsCenter"
• Favorite movie: "Remember the Titans"
• Favorite music: Christian rock

Michael Scaramuzzo II

• Age: 20
• Hometown : Staten Island, N.Y.
• College: St. John Vianney College Seminary
• Favorite book: "Cry, the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton
• Favorite TV show: "Cops"
• Favorite movie: "The Godfather"
• Favorite music: Classic rock

Connect with Dave Breitenstein on Twitter (@D_Breitenstein) and Facebook (DaveBreitenstein).