Rodriguez, a native of Venezuela, arrived in Wisconsin five years ago. He was invited to stay with members of the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle in Racine by Fr. Francisco Andreu, founder of the missionary community. Rodriguez had met Father Andreu through his sister in Florida.

While with the missionary community, Rodriguez met Father Robert Stiefvater, vocations director at Saint Francis Seminary, and he became acquainted with other diocesan priests in southeastern Wisconsin. Although he liked the missionary community, Rodriguez said that he “always saw himself as a diocesan priest, not a religious (missionary) priest,” and entered Saint Francis Seminary in 1999.

His journey to the priesthood was not a direct route to the seminary. While living in Venezuela, Rodriguez and his cousin established a maritime law practice. He and some of his co-workers also created the Tierra de Gracia (Land of Grace) Foundation, which sought to preserve the rich history of Cumana, the first Spanish city built on the South American mainland. Although he had gone to a religious school until the seventh grade, Rodriguez had never thought about becoming a priest. When he was helping with fundraising activities and teaching a civil law class to philosophy students at the Seminario San Jose in Cumana, a priest asked Rodriguez if he had ever considered becoming a priest. At the time he had not, but the idea stuck, and after four years he entered the Seminario Santa Lima in Caracas, Venezuela, to study pre-theology for a year and a half, and he joined the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle.

During his third year at Saint Francis Seminary, Rodriguez had an internship at St. Clement Parish and assisted at Holy Name School in Sheboygan. He described his experience at St. Clement as a “vocation-booster.” Working with his mentors, Father Jim Connell, Father Edward Monroe, and Sister Carmelita de Anda, Rodriguez had a chance to experience life at a parish.

“I was exposed to different ministries such as children in school, the homebound, evangelization, and I had to be present at every meeting,” said Rodriguez. In addition he had to preach once a week in English and once every other week in Spanish.

“Rafael loves to work with the community and has a strong sense of the community,” said Sister Carmelita, who works with Hispanic ministry at St. Clement. “He works to be a companion of the people, to walk with them, to give back to them. He is responsible, intelligent and open to working with people.”

Rodriguez sees his life in the priesthood as a continuation of a lifelong learning process.

He will begin his assignment as associate pastor at St. Frances Cabrini Parish in West Bend on June 22.

Rodriguez's classmate, Stephen Forrest, was born and raised in London, England. He comes from a large family and has three brothers and one sister.

When Forrest was 18 years old, he was invited by a French priest to join the Missionary Community of St. Paul the Apostle on a mission to Africa. Forrest, who at the time wanted to travel rather than pursue a vocation to the priesthood, agreed to go to Africa for three months. He so enjoyed the sense of community that the mission provided that he ended up staying in Africa for three years.

The Missionary Community sent him to Racine in September 1995. He enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy. He began his studies at Saint Francis Seminary in 1999.

Father Mike Witczak, rector of Saint Francis Seminary, feels that when Forrest came to the seminary, he had a “maturity and familiarity with living in a community.” While most first-year seminarians have to adjust to living with others, Forrest had an advantage from living in a community lifestyle at the missionary.

Forrest completed an internship in his third year of the Priestly Formation Program at All Saints Parish in Milwaukee.

“I felt at home in the parish. Everyone was very welcoming,” he said. He also liked the parish’s liturgy because it incorporates gospel music into the traditional Catholic Mass.

Among his responsibilities as an intern, he was expected to visit the sick, preach at Masses, attend all meetings at the parish, and lead Bible study. Although being part of a predominantly African and African-American parish was somewhat challenging, it provided a unique and wonderful experience for him.

“Stephen got to know the relationship between blacks and whites in America. The African-American experience is different than the African experience,” said Father Witczak. “His experience of the minority life gave him an opportunity to grow.”

He will begin his assignment as associate pastor at Milwaukee's Prince of Peace/Principe de Paz Parish on June 22.

Father Witczak is proud of both men’s accomplishments in the seminary’s Priestly Formation Program.

“I believe they will be assets to their parishes. They have many skills and talents to share with others and will greatly benefit their parishes,” he said.