Adam Hanten

2023-24: College Sophomore
St. Pius X Seminary, Loras College, Dubuque, IA 

Hello, my name is Adam Hanten from St. Theresa Catholic Church. I really enjoy watching sports, playing golf, or hanging out with friends - especially late night theological conversations.

Growing up, I attended St. Theresa Catholic School, which was vital for growing the roots of my faith. I got involved in altar serving as soon as I could in third grade, and that is what I can now pinpoint as the beginning of my appreciation for the Mass. I attended Dowling Catholic for high school, and it was there that my faith would start to flourish. From great retreats to tough obstacles, God put the friends, places, and events in my life that I would need to bring me to where I am in life and my faith today.

My intentional discernment of the priesthood didn't start until my junior year at Dowling. As I reflect now I can see many signs of God starting me on this path from a young age, but it wasn't until I went on a retreat during my second semester as a junior that I started hearing this calling from God. Utilizing the prayer life this retreat helped me develop, I soon found myself praying about a call to priesthood and would keep finding more and more peace and signs pointing me that direction the more I discerned that call. That summer I would volunteer a few weeks of my time to be a counselor at Catholic Youth Camp, and that was an amazing experience and crucial to continuing my discernment. It was there that I would meet Fr. Ross Parker, the vocations director I had been in contact with, as well as some of the seminarians from our diocese Through conversations with them and reflecting on the formation I was already experiencing at camp, those two weeks were imperative for my journey in helping me know that I was truly on the path that I needed to be on.

Fast forward a year to today, I am now extremely excited to be starting my first year of college seminary and I can't wait to see where God takes me as well as my fellow seminarians over the next year and beyond. Please pray for all current and future seminarians of our diocese, they are greatly appreciated and we can't walk this road all on our own. God bless.