Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published May 25, 2007

Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic Deacon Anthony Camilleri stands outside Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. Deacon Anthony J. Camilleri   Age: 30 Parents: Anthony E. and (the late) Katherine Elizabeth Camilleri Home parish: Holy Spirit, Highland Township Education: Eagle and Longacre elementary schools, Farmington; Power Middle School, Farmington; St. Mary's Preparatory, Orchard Lake Village; Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant (Bachelor of Science in health, fitness and cardiac rehabilitation); and Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit (Master of Divinity). Masses of Thanksgiving: 11 a.m., Sunday, May 27, Shrine Chapel of Our Lady of Orchard Lake, Orchard Lake Village; 11 a.m., Sunday, June 3, Holy Spirit Church, Highland Township; 7:15 a.m., Sunday June 10, St. Patrick Mission, Clifford; 9:15 a.m., Sunday June 10, St. Mary Burnside Church, Burnside Township; 11 a.m., Sunday June 10, Peter & Paul Church, North Branch; 4 p.m., Saturday, June 16, St. Stephen Church, Port Huron; 11 a.m., Sunday, June 17, St. Joseph Church, Port Huron.

This year, one man will enter the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Detroit. Deacon Anthony J. Camilleri, who was ordained to the transitional diaconate back in December, will be ordained a priest Saturday, May 26, at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament, 9844 Woodward Ave. in Detroit. The 10 a.m. presbyteral ordination ceremony and Mass is open to the public.

Deacon Camilleri recently answered questions put to him by Michigan Catholic reporter Robert Delaney.

Q What was your route to the priesthood?

A My high school years at Orchard Lake St. Mary's really helped me grow, and provided the building blocks of what I am today. My sense of a vocation started there. I was 14 and living on the campus five days a week. There was time for study, and we would form study groups. But we would sometimes take a break from studying, and talk about other things.

The religion teacher, Patrick Tansill, was also one of the dorm directors, and one day he asked me if I had ever thought about becoming a priest, because he said he had noticed that other students would often open up to me when we would get to talking about our personal lives and hopes for the future.

When he asked me that, I laughed. But he asked me to spend five minutes in prayer before each Mass and ask God what He wanted me to do with my life. Between school and weekends with my parents, I would typically go to Mass three or four times a week, so that was 15 to 20 minutes a week that I would spend praying about what God wanted me to do.

I'd go into the Shrine Chapel of Our Lady of Orchard Lake on campus, and I would sit there on the left, looking at the icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, because that was the one Pope John Paul II gave Orchard Lake when he was still Cardinal Karol Wojtyla.

Or sometimes I would concentrate on the large crucifix or the statues of Jesus and the Apostles behind the old main altar.

About half-way through my second year in high school, I thought, well, I think God wants me to do this. At first, I was drawn to the idea of joining a religious order, and I thought about the Holy Cross Fathers and the Norbertines. Their response was that I should go get a college education and then come back and talk to them.

So, I went to Central Michigan University, and when I had about a year left at Central and I thought God really wanted me to become a priest, I talked to one of those orders again. But my idea of priestly ministry was based on the work of parish priests, and I didn't seem to fit with what they wanted at all.

I talked with Fr. Leo Lulko at Holy Spirit Parish in Highland Township, and he recommended I talk with the vocation director for the Archdiocese of Detroit, who in those days was Fr. Bob Fisher.

I found we had a lot in common, both having gone to Catholic school and coming from blue-collar families, and we began to talk every couple of weeks. And the ladies who work in the Vocation Office are just the nicest ladies in the world.

Fr. Fisher invited me to go to one of the discernment weekends they have at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, and it was the coolest thing I had ever experienced.

So, I entered the seminary in August 2000, and it was everything I hoped it would be and more.

Q Having decided you had a vocation, did you ever have second thoughts about it?

A Well, seminary had its challenges and difficulties, but I think those came when God wanted me to stretch myself. My spiritual directors at the seminary, Fr. Dan Trapp and Fr. Bob Spezia, helped me with those challenges and helped me to grow.

Whenever I became concerned about how it was going, I could count on them and others there for what I call "power boosts."

The rectors of the seminary have been extremely supportive throughout the whole process. And that attitude filters down through the whole faculty and staff of the seminary. They care very much about encouraging vocations.

And I remember, when we made a pilgrimage to Europe about five years ago, Msgr. (John) Kasza introduced me to a Fr. Camilleri — he was no relation, but was from Malta, just like my grandfather. He had worked for many years with Mother Teresa.

He told me to remember three things: First, to pray the rosary; second, to spend time in Eucharistic Adoration; and third, to "remember you are God's instrument and a servant to the people of God." That was what I needed to hear.

Also that year, we had an audience with Pope John Paul II. There were eight of us, and the pope prayed with each of us individually.

Q It must be difficult for you that your mother passed away April 16, just weeks before your ordination. What can you tell us about the influence your parents had on your life?

A Even after I left home, my mother was always concerned about me — always asking "Are you eating enough?" and telling me, "When you get to where you're going, call me."

One thing I can definitely say my parents gave me is my work ethic. And there is the example they set: It wasn't always perfect, but they loved each other, and I got to see that love.

Q Most men preparing for the priesthood are part of a class that is going through the final years of seminary together. How was it different for you being in a class of one?

A Oh, that was never an issue. I always considered myself a part of last year's ordination class — along with Frs. Charles Fox, Don LaCuesta and Hoang Chi Lam — and we have kept in frequent contact.

Q What are the greatest challenges you see facing the Church?

A A major challenge for the Church universally is catechesis — catechizing the baptized non-believers, those who are Catholic, but not Catholic, because they drifted away from the Church.

I think Pope John Paul II was a wonderful model for the 21st-century priest, and I think Pope Benedict is too.

Q What special insights, gifts or experience do you bring to the Church?

A Well, I like building community, and I'm willing to work hard.

I'm excited about doing what a priest does, and being God's instrument and allowing Him to work through me.

Q What are your hopes for your priestly ministry?

A My main hope is to be the type of priest who is firm in educating people regarding Church teaching, but is also approachable, so that people can feel comfortable bringing a problem to me.

I want to help people to have faith and to know the love of God, wherever they are in their lives. They might think they have to do it all by themselves, but they don't — God is willing to help, but you have to ask.