FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sally Oberski      
Director of Communications   
419-244-6711 x 148
soberski@toledodiocese.org
www.toledodiocese.org

DIOCESE OF TOLEDO TO ORDAIN THREE MEN
INTO PRIESTHOOD JUNE 25

     June 20, 2011 – Toledo, OH – On Saturday, June 25 at 11:00 a.m., The Diocese of Toledo will welcome Michael Roemmele (Rem-lee), Jerry Schetter (Shĕt-er), and Philip Smith into the ordained priesthood. The Most Reverend Leonard P. Blair, Bishop of the Diocese of Toledo, will ordain the three men at Our Lady Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral at 2535 Collingwood Boulevard, Toledo.

     Deacon Michael P. Roemmele, 26, whose home parish is St. Rose of Lima in Perrysburg, attended Toledo’s Central Catholic High School and entered the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus directly after high school and later studied at Mount Saint Mary Seminary of the West in Cincinnati.  Deacon Michael is one of four current seminarians in the Diocese of Toledo that are graduates of Central Catholic High School.  His pastoral internship was spent at Delphos, St. John and summer assignments included All Saints Parish, New Riegel; The Catholic Club and Historic St. Patrick parish in Toledo; St. John Parish, Delphos, and  SS. Peter and Paul Parish in
Sandusky.Deacon Michael’s first priestly assignment will be as the Associate Pastor of Saint Mary Parish, Tiffin / Saint Pius X Parish, Sycamore, and chaplain to Tiffin Calvert School. 
    

    Holy Rosary Parish in St. Mary’s, is the home parish of second candidate, Deacon Jerome A. Schetter, 56.  His pastoral internship was completed at St. Mary Parish in Tiffin, with summer assignments at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Delphos; The Catholic Club and Historic St. Patrick Parish in Toledo, and St. Mary Parish in Tiffin.  Deacon Jerome is a graduate of Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut.  Before deciding to enter the seminary, Deacon Jerome owned his own business for 15 years and was active in community service organizations, including the National Ski Patrol.  His first priestly assignment will be as the Associate Pastor, St. Rose of Lima Parish in Perrysburg.

     Deacon Philip A. Smith, 26, whose home parish is St. Joseph in Tiffin, attended Calvert Catholic High School in Tiffin, and graduated from the Franciscan University in Steubenville. After receiving his degree, Bishop Blair assigned Deacon Philip to study at the Pontifical North American College in Vatican City where he has recently finished the first year of a two-year program of marriage and family studies at the John Paul II Institute in Rome, Italy. This summer, after his priestly ordination, (Father) Smith will provide liturgical assistance to Put-In-Bay Mother of Sorrows parish and St. Michael’s parish on Kelleys Island.  In September 2011, he will return to Rome to complete his tudies. St. Wendelin in Fostoria, is where Deacon Philip served his pastoral internship and summer assignments included Historic St. Patrick and Immaculate Conception parishes in Toledo, Sandusky Holy Angels parish and a parish in Rome.
   

     Bishop Leonard Blair states, “Ordination day is always one of the happiest celebrations in the life of a diocese and of a Bishop. God continues to raise up shepherds for his Church.  We praise and thank God for this gift, and we pray that our new priests will always be faithful to their high calling to love and serve Christ’s flock.”

  
     Once ordained, each newly ordained priest will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving as follows:
Deacon Michael P. Roemmele
Sunday, June 26, 2011, 2:30 pm   St. Rose of Lima, Perrysburg
Deacon Jerome A. Schetter
Sunday, June 26, 2011, 1:30 pm   Holy Rosary, St. Mary’s
Deacon Philip A. Smith
Sunday, June 26, 2011, 11:30 am   St. Joseph, Tiffin
Sunday, July 23, 4:30 pm    St. Wendelin, Fostoria

     For more information on these newly ordained priests or the priesthood ordination ceremony please contact Yvonne Dubielak, Office of Vocations or the Communications Office at the Diocese of Toledo at 419-244-6711.

The Diocese of Toledo, established April 15, 1910 encompasses 8222 square miles in a mixture of urban and rural areas that spans 19 counties across Northwest, serving 322,523 Catholics in 126 parishes. The diocese includes Allen, Crawford, Defiance, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Henry, Huron, Lucas, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Van Wert, Williams, Wood and Wyandot counties.
###