The Covington Diocese is getting help in its search for more priests to serve the church in Northern Kentucky.
This weekend, the largest number of priests will be ordained since the mid-1980s.
One of the future priests is Bob Rottgers.
"I loved my wife and I love my family and I think marriage is a great thing," said Rottgers, whose wife died in 2002.
She left behind a son and Rottgers. Now, Rottgers has three grandchildren by his stepson who he enjoys reading to and spoiling. But he wanted more.
"I really believe we're all being called to special and different things for God and this is what he's asked me to do at this point in my life. This is my time to give back. I really feel God has trained me in the things of life to be a better priest and to be able to communicate to those who are struggling through some of the issues I've been through," he said.
Rottgers is one of four men to be ordained this weekend and join the 61 other active priests who serve the 14-county area encompassed by the Covington Diocese.
Twenty-eight-year-old Joshua Lange is another of the soon-to-be priests. Lange has never been married and has been drawn to the priesthood since childhood.
"I felt something deep in me. [It] allows me in many ways almost to be married to the church to serve them with that same kind of devotion that I would serve a spouse," Lange said.
The ordination takes place at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington. The event it free and open to the public.
Four Future PriestsHere are short biographies written by the Diocese of Covington of the four men who will be ordained as priests this weekend:
Deacon Matthew Cushing, age 34, is the son of Dennis and Carol Cushing of Kansas City, Kansas. He was born and spent his early years in Kansas City, Missouri. He graduated from Rockhurst High School and the DeVry Institute of Technology and was employed as a computer programmer for Electronic Data Systems.
He prepared for the priesthood at St. Vincent Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
He has three brothers and four sisters, including a religious, Sister of St. Joseph the Worker Patricia Jean Cushing of Walton, KY.
His first Mass of Thanksgiving is May 31 at 3 p.m. at Mary, Queen of Heaven Church, Erlanger, where he will serve as parochial vicar effective July 1.
Deacon Joshua Lange, 28, is the only child of Richard and Donna Lange of Alexandria, KY. He graduated from Bishop Brossart High School and will become the first graduate of that school to be ordained a Roman Catholic priest.
He and his family are members of St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Alexandria. He attended Thomas More College and studied for the priesthood at University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois.
He will celebrate his first Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Mary in Alexandria, at noon May 31. Beginning July 1, he will serve as parochial vicar at St. Joseph Church, Cold Spring.
Deacon Robert Rottgers, 52, the son of Robert and Wanda Rottgers, is a native of Fort Thomas, KY.
His wife, Penny, died in 2002. He has a son, Richard Cooper, and three grandchildren.
Deacon Rottgers is a convert to Catholicism, and was received into the Catholic Church at St. Oliver Plunkett Church, Snellville, Georgia. He attended Highlands High School and Eastern Kentucky University. He prepared for the priesthood at the Pontifical College Josephinum
(seminary) in Columbus, Ohio, and at University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois.
Before entering the seminary he was employed as an engineer in the material handling industry and worked for Vanderlande, Inc. and Buschman Conveyors, among others.
His older brother, the Rev. Steve Rottman, is an Episcopal priest.
His first Mass of Thanksgiving is May 31 at 11:30 a.m. at St. Catherine of Siena Church, Fort Thomas. Effective July 1, he will serve as parochial vicar at St. Catherine of Siena Church.
Deacon Lawrence Schaeper, a Cincinnati native, grew up in St. Bernard, Ohio, and graduated from Roger Bacon High School. He earned an accounting degree from Xavier University and worked for 11 years for Fifth Third Bank.
Responding to the call to the priesthood, he first entered the seminary for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and then, in 2006, resumed his seminary training for the Diocese of Covington. He
studied at St. Vincent Seminary, Latrobe, Pennsylvania.
His first Mass of Thanksgiving will be May 31 at St. Henry Church, Erlanger, where he has served the last two summers.
Effective July 1, he will become parochial vicar at St. Thomas Church, Fort Thomas.
