Local News Archive

Print Issue: July 4, 2002

Father H. Andrew Schoenfield: Catholic Convert Drawn To Serve Those Poor In Spirit

By Priscilla Greear, Staff Writer

ATLANTA - Father H. Andrew Schoenfield, 28, feels discouraged by the sex abuse scandal in the church and acknowledges it's a difficult time to give his life to the institution. But it doesn't change his call to the priesthood, which he first heard at the age of 10 as an Episcopalian and which "sort of kept gnawing at me."

A college English major and a "professed bibliophile," he coined a phrase for the crisis: "a tale of two (Catholic) churches," one focused on self-preservation and the other "so caring, serving and loving."

"It's been really discouraging to see how this has been handled by the leadership of the church. By and large it has been not the crimes but the covering up that has been the scandal," he said in an interview before ordination. "I know people's love and support, but at the same time it's a terribly difficult time to embrace ordination. But I know this is what God's calling for me to do and I've been preparing for it for the last six years so I'm going through with it."

Ordained June 15 at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, Father Schoenfield will serve as a parochial vicar at St. Jude the Apostle Church, Atlanta. First drawn to Catholicism in high school, the Atlanta native became friends when attending Kennesaw State University with Catholics from New Orleans, the city where little did he know he would later end up attending Notre Dame Seminary.

"I was raised in such a high Anglican (church) that it was incredibly similar. There were a lot of problems (then) in the Episcopal Church. I was turned off by that and was looking for a more stable place."

He embraces the ecclesiology of the Catholic Church, its hierarchical structure and teaching authority, which ensures consistency in church teaching. "But a lot of Episcopal churches as far as liturgy goes have better liturgy than Catholic churches," he added.

By the time he became a Catholic in 1995, after going through the Order of Christian Initiation at the Cathedral of Christ the King, he had been attending Mass for four years. "It was celebrating what I had already done."

With his proclivity for reading he "soaked up" seminary theology books but found that "the academics of the seminary were just not a challenge for me . . . I continually read outside of class." He became fascinated with sacramental and systematic theology.

In addition to reading, he refuels with photography and music. His current "obsession in music" is jazz and he plays guitar and trumpet.

One of the most valuable aspects of the seminary, he said, was the emphasis on personal growth. "They really forced us to grow and look inside ourselves and see what our issues are and address them. That was really scary at first, taking an honest inventory and saying, 'Where is God in this and where is God calling me to grow?'"

Also during formation, helping the sick prepare for death and helping people deal with 9/11 by representing Christ through his presence helped him to realize the privilege of priesthood. "The most vulnerable places in people's lives are exposed to ministers. It's such a privilege to work with people on that sacred ground and to help them with all that."

Describing himself as having "a deep sense of spirituality" and of compassion, he has a special desire to reach out to the spiritually and materially poor and marginalized both within the church and larger society, quoting from Isaiah, "comfort my people." Growing up, "I certainly felt marginalized in one way or another. These sorts of wounds have become anointed and healed and (created) a sense of desire to reach out to others and heal them and help them to know God's love in the midst of the pain," he said. "If it weren't for the people who need to be reminded of God's love and compassion, there's no way I'd keep going - that's it."

Msgr. Stephen Churchwell, who worked with Father Schoenfield when he spent a year before seminary at Sacred Heart Church, Atlanta, said he has an important skill needed to show God's love: listening.

"I think he'll be a good preacher and good in dealing with people in counseling situations because he listens. Do you realize how rare that is even with priests?" Msgr. Churchwell said. "I always found Andrew willing to listen and able to change his attitude about things if he saw it maybe wasn't right. I always admired that in him because it's one of the things a priest needs to do."

Plowing ahead into priesthood, he hopes to study and perhaps teach systematic theology one day. "We could use a lay formation center for people who want to learn more about the faith and study theology. I think there are a lot of avenues that could be explored."