For Father Stephen Hilgen-dorf, it has been a long journey from his role as a priest in the Anglican tradition.
It included a desire to be in full communion with the Catholic Church that was so strong he was willing to give up ministry altogether. But God had other plans for him. He and his family were received into Catholic Church, then some years later he was accepted to become a Catholic priest.
After studying, working and ministering in the Twin Cities the past six years, he was ordain-ed a priest for the Houston-based Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter June 29. His next assignment will be in Omaha, Nebraska. The ordinariate is equivalent to a diocese for Roman Catholics who were nurtured in the Angli-can tradition. Created by the Vatican Jan. 1, 2012, it serves Catholic parishes and communities across the United States and Canada.
“I had to come to grips with the thought, ‘I may never be a priest again,’” Hilgendorf, 33, said after his ordination. “After becoming Catholic, I found it very difficult going to Mass. I was not sure who I was any-more.”