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On January 11, the Holy Father Pope Francis announced the appointment of Abbot Jeremy Driscoll, OSB, as a member of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments for a period of five years. The main responsibility of the dicastery is the promotion of the sacred liturgy according to the liturgical renewal of the Second Vatican Council and advising the Holy Father on liturgical matters.

Until this recent appointment as a member, Abbot Jeremy had served as a consultor for the Dicastery for Divine Worship for 20 years, having first been appointed a consultor by Pope St. John Paul II in 2005. Pope Benedict XVI renewed that appointment as consultor in 2010, and Pope Francis renewed that appointment again in 2015 and 2020.

Article 15 of Pope Francis’s Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium (2022) on the reform of the Roman Curia now allows those who are not cardinals or bishops to be appointed members of Vatican dicasteries. This means that Abbot Jeremy’s appointment as a member is an historic first for the Dicastery for Divine Worship. In his letter to Abbot Jeremy, Arthur Cardinal Roche, prefect of the dicastery, expressed his “delight in receiving notification of these nominations” and that he “look[s] forward to working alongside [Abbot Jeremy] during the course of the next five years.”

Abbot Jeremy is one of three Americans who have been appointed as members, the other two being female professors of theology: Mary Healy, a biblical theologian and professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, and Donna Lynn Orsuto, a professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli, master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations and head of the Pontifical Sistine Chapel Choir, was also appointed as a new member of the dicastery.

Abbot Jeremy is the 12th abbot of Mount Angel Abbey, having been elected by the monastic community in March 2016. He made his first profession of monastic vows on September 8, 1974, and was ordained a priest in 1981. Abbot Jeremy has taught theology at Mount Angel Seminary and the Pontifical Athenaeum Sant’Anselmo in Rome. He is a published author and conducts conferences and retreats throughout the United States and beyond. In addition to his work at the Vatican, Abbot Jeremy serves as a consultant to the Bishops Committee on Divine Worship for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. In February 2024, Abbot Jeremy was one of three main speakers at a plenary assembly of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and presented Mount Angel Seminary’s curriculum to cardinals, archbishops, and bishops from around the world.

Ten Mount Angel seminarians from five dioceses were received as candidates for Holy Orders during Mass in the Abbey church on October 23, 2024. Archbishop Alexander K. Sample, of the Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon, served as principal celebrant for the Mass. Other concelebrants included Archbishop John Wester (Archdiocese of Santa Fe), Bishop Jaime Soto (Diocese of Sacramento), Bishop Kevin Vann (Diocese of Orange), Bishop Liam Cary (Diocese of Baker), Abbot Jeremy Driscoll, chancellor, Fr. Jeff Eirvin, president-rector, priests from the Seminary and monastery, and vocation directors and superiors from Mount Angel’s sending dioceses and religious communities.

In his remarks before the Mass, Fr. Eirvin said that candidacy marks the seminarians’ preparations “to offer themselves in loving service to the Lord and his people as ordained ministers in the Church.” According to the current Program of Priestly Formation, seminarians are normally admitted to candidacy as they begin the configuration stage of seminary formation, where “the seminarian models his life on the self-donation of Jesus Christ, Shepherd and Servant” and he acquires “a proper priestly spirituality” (135-136). For seminarian Shawn Daniel of the Archdiocese of Portland, receiving candidacy reminds him “to remain cognizant of the commitments and responsibilities that I am taking on, appreciative for the opportunity to serve, and honored for the trust placed in me by the Church.”

Archbishop Sample preached directly to the seminarians on the themes of grace and stewardship found in the Mass readings of the day from Ephesians and the Gospel of Luke. “Be good stewards of the graces and the gifts that have been given to you, not in service to yourself, but in service to the People of God one day,” said Archbishop Sample.

After the homily, Deacon Ed Burke of the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau called each seminarian by name for admission to candidacy. “When my name was called, I felt God calling me to surrender myself to him and to accept the mission entrusted by Christ. The Lord has called me, and I have answered,” said seminarian John Nguyen of the Archdiocese of Portland. The rite itself was simple with three questions from the archbishop to the seminarians, who responded with their assent to each one. Despite its brevity, it was a powerful experience for those receiving candidacy. “Hearing the words ‘Beloved sons, the pastors and teachers in charge of your formation, and others who know you, have given a favorable account of you…’ from Archbishop Sample was a real gift and a great grace that stoked the fires in my heart for this vocation,” said Eddie Huber of the Diocese of Orange.

The following men were admitted as candidates: Tyler Matthew Alt, Diocese of Orange; Sean Kerwyn Crepin, Diocese of Spokane; Shawn Raymond Daniel, Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon; Kinnzy Dorcely, Diocese of Yakima; Edward Huber, Diocese of Orange; Seth Mitchell London, Diocese of Orange; Fernando Mendoza Lemus, Diocese of Yakima; John Thien Nguyen, Archdiocese of Portland in Oregon; Jose Francisco Orozco Cardenas, Diocese of Fresno; and Cody Wilson Schurter, Diocese of Orange.

– Ethan Alano

To view more photos from the Mass of Candidacy, visit Mount Angel Abbey and Seminary’s Flickr album.