On Sunday, June 1, in the presence of Bishop Thomas Daly, seminarians Mitchell Carey of Clarkston, Wash. and Christopher Appel of Colfax, Wash. were admitted to Candidacy for Holy Orders at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Mitchell became a seminarian with the diocese after serving as a dentist in the U.S. Navy. Christopher graduated from Washington State University and entered seminary after serving as a Focus missionary at college campuses in Colorado and Idaho. Both men will be entering their third year of studies this fall at St. Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee, Wis.
Through this sacred rite, the Church formally recognizes the seminarian’s intention to receive Holy Orders. It affirms that he has demonstrated the necessary qualities to proceed toward ordination to the Sacred Priesthood.
The Rite of Addmitance to Candidacy is a relatively new rite with ancient roots. Before 1972, the Church used the Rite of Tonsure as a formal way of recognizing the man’s intention to receive orders. For many centuries, clerics received the tonsure, the distinctive haircut that adorned the heads of saints like Francis and Benedict.
However, by the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the tonsure was no longer donned as it once was. Even before the reforms of Vatican Council II, the Rite of Tonsure for diocesan seminarians was simplified to the cutting of some hairs in the shape of a cross, a sign of their slavery to Christ. The rite itself had some gray areas, notably that the man became a cleric after receiving tonsure, yet his rights and responsibilities did not change.
Vatican II sought to clarify the rite and unify the clerical status with clerical responsibilities. Pope St. Paul VI did this via motu propio with Ministeria Quaedam and Ad Pascendum on August 15, 1972.
Ministeria Quaedam established the Rite of Admittance to Candidacy, which effectively confirms man’s desire and path toward ordination. Ad Pascendum established the man’s entrance into the clerical state at the moment of ordination to the diaconate. The rite symbolizes Jesus’ call of the first disciples, in which they chose to leave everything behind and follow Him.
After receiving candidacy for ordination, both seminarians will begin their theological studies in the fall and are now permitted to wear a collar. On the path to priesthood, seminarians study theology for approximately four years before being ordained to the diaconate. God willing, they will be ordained to the priesthood in about four to five years.
Bishop Thomas A. Daly blesses seminarians (L-R) Christopher Appel and Mitchell Carey during the Rite of Admittance to Candidacy for Holy Orders at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes on June 1, 2025