The Rev. Matthew Pfeiffer discovered his vocation when he started asking the right question.
“I had been asking ‘What do I want to be?’ That was the wrong question,” said Pfeiffer, 35. “Once I asked ‘What is it that God wants me to do?’ I realized the answer had been there all the time. When I was in architecture school, when I was studying to become a U.S. Marine Corp. pilot, the one constant was my love of the faith.”
Pfeiffer’s love of the Roman Catholic faith led him to ordination into the priesthood in 2009. On Feb. 1, less than five years after becoming a priest, he was given his first assignment as a pastor at St. Paul’s parish in the Firestone Park area of Akron.
The Archbishop Hoban High School graduate is among a growing number of younger priests being assigned as pastors in the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. The trend is a result of the declining number of priests available for active ministry.
Diocesan records show that in 1970, 248 of the 600 priests serving in the eight-county diocese were younger than 40 years old. Currently there are 263 priests and fewer than 30 are under 40. The diocese includes Summit, Medina, Wayne, Ashland, Lorain, Cuyahoga, Lake and Geauga counties.
Newly ordained priests are typically assigned as parochial vicars (or associate pastors) before becoming pastors. When there was an abundance of priests in the diocese, a parochial vicar could serve 25 to 30 years before being assigned as a pastor.
Today, parochial vicars are asked to complete one assignment before applying for a pastorate. In addition, parochial vicar assignments in the diocese were reduced to four years (from five years) in 2003.
The Rev. Donald Oleksiak, director of clergy personnel in the diocese, said that although the priest population in the diocese is aging and declining, vocation numbers are on the rise. Twenty new candidates began the diocese’s nine-year formation program and the diocese is actively encouraging and recruiting vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and religious life.
Demographic changes
The Rev. Christopher Trenta, who was ordained with Pfeiffer and three other priests, said that seminarians understand the new reality of being assigned as a pastor at a younger age. He said the current status of fewer priests reflects demographic changes in the diocese, including a dwindling Catholic population, fewer parishes, families with fewer children, a growing number of retired priests and fewer men entering the priesthood.
Trenta, whose parish of residence is Akron’s St. Sebastian, noted that in dioceses with fewer vocations — like parts of Michigan and upstate New York — priests are becoming pastors after six months and some are assigned to lead several small parishes simultaneously.
“Prior to the 1940s, when the vocation boom seemed to get started, I think there were a number of younger priests appointed as pastors. And certainly in the early history of our diocese, when Ohio was still a frontier to be settled, we would have seen young missionary priests serving the early Catholic settlers to our area. So, a young pastor is not entirely unprecedented in our history,” Trenta said. “Thankfully … the Diocese of Cleveland’s seminary has been well administered and offered a constantly improving formation experience for priests.”
Both Trenta and ordination classmate the Rev. Anthony Suso agree they were well prepared to take the fast track to the pastorate. Both men have total confidence in Pfeiffer’s ability to fulfill his role as a good pastor.
“He’s very disciplined and very mature. He’s a man who is in love with Christ and in love with the church. He loves the priesthood and he loves to be of service,” said Suso, parochial vicar at St. Joseph’s parish in Strongsville.
Uncle serves as mentor
Young pastors are encouraged to develop mentor relationships with more experienced priests. The diocese also offers workshops to help priests become better pastors.
One of the priests that Pfeiffer expects to call on is his uncle, the Rev. Robert Pfeiffer. The elder Pfeiffer, pastor emeritus at Holy Martyrs in Medina, was the first person with whom the younger Pfeiffer shared his intention to go into the priesthood.
The elder Pfeiffer, who was ordained in 1961, served in the diocese for nearly 20 years before being assigned as a parish pastor.
“Back then, you didn’t even think about becoming a pastor until you had been ordained for more than 20 years” said Pfeiffer, 79. “Times have changed dramatically, and I’m sure it has a lot to do with the diminishing number of clergy. I’m also sure Matt will do a good job... He’s compassionate, smart and understanding and people really love him.”
The younger Pfeiffer earned his undergraduate degree in philosophy at John Carroll University and a graduate degree in theology at St. Mary’s Seminary. After his high school graduation, Pfeiffer attended Kent State University, where he planned to study architecture. After two years, he began to reconsider his decision about becoming an architect.
When he received a mailer about becoming a Marine Corps pilot, he thought that might be the perfect vocation. He switched gears and went to officer candidate school. The plan was to go to training and come back to the Akron area to complete a degree.
“Something was nagging at me. I didn’t know what it was,” Pfeiffer said. “I took a year off to ‘live in the real world.’ That’s when I began asking myself if there was something different. I discovered that I needed to focus on what God wanted me to do. I entered the seminary and the rest is history.”
Pfeiffer has served as parochial vicar at St. Augustine in Barberton and St. Sebastian in Akron. Cleveland Bishop Richard G. Lennon will formally install Pfeiffer as pastor of St. Paul’s at 7 p.m. March 21 at the church, 1580 Brown St.
“He came newly ordained to St. Sebastian and brought new energy into the parish. He appreciates the arts and is a movie buff who can analyze any movie from a theological perspective,” said the Rev. John Valencheck, pastor at St. Sebastian. “One of the things that I admire most about him is his ability to take the teachings of the church and apply them pastorally.”
Colette Jenkins can be reached at 330-996-3731 or cjenkins@thebeaconjournal.com. She can be followed at www.twitter.com/ColetteMJenkins.