Young Man of the Cloth

There have been a number of first person accounts of seminary training. All the ones I was able to find contain relatively limited information about actual seminary experiences and focus most of their effort evaluating the experience. I am more interested here in just telling my story. I spent nine years in the seminary and monastery from the mid 1950's to the mid 1960's during the time many of the priests in question were also in training. I have tried to convey here a straightforward account of my experiences in the seminary and monastery. I have reconstructed the events and conversations to the best of my recollection. Although I did not complete my training, I think my experiences are typical of seminarians who finished their training and went on to become problem priests. My story is obviously limited to my own experience and may differ from the stories of others going through seminary training. Sexuality was a rarely mentioned mystery and was certainly a struggle for me during my seminary days. Seminaries have been working to make real changes in priest-formation programs, including aspects dealing with sexuality. I hope that reading the account of my years as a "young man of the cloth" may help lead to a greater understanding of some of the formative influences on future priests, at least during the fifties and sixties.