Conception Seminary College Holds Commencement

Conception, Mo – May 16, 2016 – On Saturday May 14, 2016, Conception Seminary College concluded its academic year with a commencement ceremony in the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. Thirteen men received their Bachelor of Arts degree. They are: Keith Chadwick, Hayden Charles, Bradley Distler, Jonathan Fox, Jon Hynek II, Kevin Lenius, Nicholas Newton, Phillip Novotny, Br. Tuyen Quang (Peter Damian) Phung, CMC, Tomas Sandoval, James Sulanka, Ty Taylor, and Mauricio Tovar. Receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophical and Theological Studies were James Flattery and Joseph Hurdle. Those graduating with honors were: summa cum laude: Hayden Charles and Ty Taylor; magna cum laude: Kevin Lenius; and cum laude: Bradley Distler and Tomas Sandoval. These graduates represent eleven different (arch)dioceses and one religious community spread throughout the mid-west.

The graduates and their families, monks, and seminarians gathered for the Mass of Thanksgiving where Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas was the principal celebrant and homilist on Pentecost Sunday.

Established in 1886, Conception Seminary College in northwest Missouri is one of the largest of the 40 Roman Catholic college seminaries in the nation and one of only 15 with a complete four-year academic curriculum. Operated by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey, CSC strives today, as it did a century ago, to fulfill the needs of the Church through the formation of men answering the call to the ministerial priesthood.

By diocese, the graduates are: 

• for the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas: Keith Chadwick and Jonathan Fox,
• for the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas: Hayden Charles and Ty Taylor,
• for the Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri: Bradley Distler,
• for the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin: Jon Hynek,
• for the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas: Kevin Lenius,
• for the Diocese of Springfield – Cape Girardeau, Missouri: Nicholas Newton,
• for the Archdiocese of Omaha, Nebraska: Phillip Novotny and Maurcio Tovar
• for the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix, Carthage, Missouri: Br. Tuyen Quang (Peter Damien) Phung, CMC;
• for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: Tomas Sandoval,
• for the Diocese of Salina, Kansas: James Sulanka,
• for the Diocese of Davenport, Iowa: James Flattery,
• and for the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming: Joseph Hurdle.

To read graduate Kevin Lenius’ blog entry on his time at Conception Seminary College, click here.