By A.M. Kelley
Superior Catholic Herald
Three men, three different paths to transitional diaconate
SUPERIOR -- Bill Brenna, Don Kania and Perry Koeppen expect to be accepted by the church as transitional deacons on June 29--with only one more year until becoming priests.
Brenna and Kania study at Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wis., and Koeppen at Mundelein Seminary in Illinois.
Brenna
Brenna, who turned 60 on May 24, is a Vietnam veteran. He graduated from Cretin High School in St. Paul, Minn., in 1966 and the following year enlisted in the U.S. Army. He was sent overseas in 1968 and served active duty as a military police soldier with the 173rd Airborne Brigade. He participated in criminal investigations, which included "just about any crime you can think of committed by the U.S. military," he said, "murder, rape, aggravated assault, drugs and black market crimes."
In 1970, back in the United States, Brenna joined a U.S. Army Reserve unit where he was commissioned a lieutenant in the military police corps and trained military police units.
"It was not a full time job," Brenna said, "but it almost took over (my) life in a way," as he put in many hours and worked on weekends and evenings.
His day job was with the U.S. Department of Defense. As a federal civilian employee, he conducted background investigations for security programs. He retired in 2003.
He also attended the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and in 1980 received a bachelor of arts degree in history with a minor in German.
Brenna's resume may seem a surprising precursor for work as a Roman Catholic priest, but he sees the link and said many of his talents are relevant in both careers.
"The life experiences I have had of different people and cultures," he said, "of war and its human consequences, of marriage, divorce and healing, and of work under many different conditions, I think will all be useful."
Brenna's vocation didn't spark until 2002 and then developed gradually.
"I think it is important to recognize that the priesthood is not some sort of personal goal that one decides upon," he said, "and then sets about attaining like becoming an astronaut or a millionaire or owning a vacation home on the lake."
The revelation of the priest sex abuse scandals and the pressing need for "priests who are in love with Christ" heightened his interest in the priesthood. This occurred about the time that an annulment was granted for a failed marriage (he has no children).
This juncture in his life included planning for retirement, and at age 54, Brenna found himself entering a period of discernment, albeit without a "dramatic conversion experience."
His studies at SHST have been tough. He said there's been "a lot to balance--the academic load and family responsibilities."
His father died in November and as his mother's eldest child, she has needed his help. Brenna has six siblings, five brothers and one sister.
He credits Fr. Andrew Ricci, the diocesan vocation director, with the "patience, persistence, encouragement and great energy" for influencing and inspiring him from beginning to end.
Kania
Kania's discernment process has been longer than Brenna's, but now he has no doubts about his vocation. After all, he said, this is his 15th year of formation--a path that has neither been straight nor smooth.
The St. Louis, Mo., native spent four years in a high school seminary and four years in a college seminary; then his world turned upside down. In 1983, while crossing a street, his father was hit by a car.
"We got a pizza," Kania said. "It was Super Bowl Sunday. We were walking home."
He and his mother watched the 53-year-old die in "a river of blood." Kania was 21 years old at the time and said the accident left him "a different person."
He withdrew from the seminary, stopped going to church and calls his next six years the "darkest years."
"I was angry at God," he said.
It took awhile, but through grace and a special Baptist friend along the way, he "found God, found Jesus" and made his way back to his own parish.
During these years he worked as a grocery clerk, then as a psychiatric technician at an adolescent treatment center. He studied science and social studies at the University of Missouri, received a teaching degree and began teaching.
It was through the study of history, and experiences with people at work and at school, that Kania had an epiphany about the importance of accepting the past.
"I began to realize that death and suffering were part of a lot of people's lives," he said. "God did not single me out in 1983. Other families, too, suffer losses and none of them could be easily explained."
By 1992 he was ready for a program designed for "older men to explore freely and openly their interest in the priesthood." That step led to action. In 1999 he entered a Dominican order as a novice. He invested years with them, and because along the way he had developed a lot of smarts about computers and software, used this know-how to develop and maintain a Web site for the community. It was rewarding work, but Kania, at times, thought that he was "losing myself in cyberspace." Life in the seminary was hard in a lot of ways.
"Seminary's tough," he said. "They unpack all your baggage and tear you apart. The community wasn't for me."
In the end, he left the Dominicans.
He entered SHST two years ago--and all in all, the formation time adds up to 15 years.
Now 46, Kania has only one semester left in seminary. In the fall his studies will include the theology of the priesthood, homiletics and a practicum learning how to say Mass. He hopes to graduate in December.
He has one sister who lives with her family in Beaver Dam, Wis. His mother has passed away.
He's learned from all of his experiences in life, all of the ups and downs, and in spite of a lot of advanced computer knowledge believes that "it is in the most simple low-tech things and practices where the realm of the holy is found."
Koeppen
Koeppen is the youngest of the three. The 27-year-old entered the seminary in 2004 with an undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin- Stout. In the fall he'll begin one final year at Mundelein to complete a master of divinity degree.
Along with Brenna and Kania, Koeppen anticipates ordination to the priesthood in 2009. In a visit to the chancery recently he said that the most surprising thing about the seminary is how fast the time is going.
He moved into the rectory of St. Anthony Parish in Superior just after Memorial Day and will stay until August while working at a summer chaplaincy internship.
He was scheduled to begin the program with four other seminarians on May 27 at St. Mary Duluth Clinic in Duluth, Minn. A close encounter with a Wisconsin deer delayed his arrival. All's well, but he was run off the road about a mile from home, unharmed although his Saturn sustained some damage. A loaner car from his father is holding him over until what his mother refers to his "flashy red car," gets repaired.
The internship is a 10-week course supervised by Sr. Judith Oland, OSB, which prepares seminarians in a clinical setting to become "spiritual care coordinators" on health care teams.
"We emphasize body, mind and spirit," Oland said. "We minister to people of all denominations and to people who are not religious but have a spirituality."
After four intense years of study at a Catholic institution, this summer job has placed him with interns from much different backgrounds and he admits to being a little nonplused at the unexpected "diversity" but is finding the experience "interesting."
It's all part of the challenging preparation of becoming a priest. Like his fellow seminarians, Koeppen said seminary life is not easy.
"It's about changing your habits," he said. "Exercise, eating healthy, praying daily and getting critiqued--feedback" from peers and professors.
He's seen a bit of the world in the process. Last summer he traveled to Mexico for a Spanish language immersion program and then in November began an 11-week visit to Israel.
His parents are Larry and Juanita Koeppen. They have been married for 35 years and raised Perry and four other children at their home in Amery.
Juanita Koeppen is not surprised by her son's interest in the priesthood. "He talked it about it when he was young," she said.
Koeppen's four siblings are: Philip, Shelly, Karl and Molly. Philip, 34, is married to Jennifer and they have two children, Peighton and Tiegan, and live in North Branch, Minn. Shelly, 33, is married to Scott Brinkman. The couple lives in Chisago City, Minn., with their two children, Grace and Colton. Karl, 31, and Danielle have one daughter, Olivia, and live in Amery. Molly, 22, is married to Joe Newbauer. They live in Clayton, Wis., and have one child, Kassidy, and one due in June.
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2008