Newly ordained priests have local ties

For the Antigo Times

One newly ordained priest is set to serve a Hortonville church while another hails from Greenville on his way to Antigo.

The Rev. Adam Bradley will be assigned to serve as priest celebrant at SS. Peter and Paul in Hortonville. He will also serve at St. Pius X Parish in Appleton and as part-time chaplain at Xavier High School.

Bradley grew up in Antigo, Wisconsin. Running cross country, waterskiing and working at his father’s funeral home, he graduated in 2007 from Antigo High School.

Attending the University of Wisconsin-Parkside for two years, he then transferred to UW-Oshkosh where he became involved with the Newman Center and ultimately decided to enter the seminary.

Bradley graduated from Conception Seminary College in Missouri and attended St. Francis de Sales Seminary and Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, earning a Master of Divinity degree. His seminary studies included Spanish immersion, hospital chaplaincy and diaconal parish ministry.

The Rev. Zachary Weber of Greenville will be assigned to St. John the Evangelist in Antigo, SS. Mary and Hyacinth in Antigo, St. Wencel’s in Neva and St. James in Whitelake.

Weber grew up in Howards Grove. He graduated in 2005 from Howards Grove High School, where he played football, baseball, basketball, and ran track. During his sophomore year of college, he had a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ at the Men of Christ Conference in Milwaukee.

Weber graduated from Upper Iowa University with a degree in psychology and then attended St. Meinrad Seimary in Indiana, where he completed his Masters in philosophical studies. After graduation, he attended Mundelein Seminary in Illinois where he earned his Masters of Divinity. Seminary studies included Spanish immersion in Guatemala, pilgrimages to France and the Holy Land, hospital chaplaincy, college missionary evangelization trips and parish internship experiences. He was ordained to the diaconate in May of 2016.

Bishop David L. Ricken of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay ordained Bradley and Weber to the priesthood at a Rite of Ordination on Saturday, July 1, at St. Mary’s Parish in the town of Ledgeview.

Also ordained were the Revs. Mark Mleziva (Luxemburg), Matthew Rappl (Neenah) and Jon Thorsen (Green Bay).

This is the largest group of seminarians to be ordained at one time since 1991.