Cardinal James M. Harvey remains a familiar face at Saint Francis de Sales Seminary. He attended the St. Francis high school seminary prior to entering the seminary there as well and was ordained in 1975. (Photo courtesy of Saint Frances de Sales Seminary)
It’s purely coincidence that the episcopal motto of Cardinal James M. Harvey — “Zelus Domus Tuae,” taken from Psalm 69 — is also the inspiration for the name of Saint Francis de Sales Seminary’s inaugural capital campaign, Zeal for the Lord’s House.
But it’s one of those little winks from God — a mark of the spiritual kinship that endures between the seminary and one of its most distinguished alumni, 50 years after his ordination.
“We found it to be very providential,” said Fr. Luke Strand, Seminary Rector.
The purpose of the Zeal for the Lord’s House campaign is to provide for the historic seminary’s future and growth — two intentions to which Cardinal Harvey has long dedicated himself, even as his priesthood took him far from the shore of Lake Michigan.
“He cares so much about the Church of Milwaukee and is very attentive to this local flock,” said Fr. Strand, who noted that the cardinal “embodies the spirit” of his alma mater, and his relationship with the seminary has remained strong across five decades and thousands of miles.
Each year when he visits his hometown of Milwaukee, Cardinal Harvey spends time at the seminary, greeting the new men, praying Vespers with the community and spending time with the faculty.
“It’s really a great shot in the arm for the diocese,” Cardinal Harvey said of his alma mater. “I think we’ve had great, very special vocations leadership. There’s been a certain confidence that’s been built up among a lot of Catholics.”
Famous for his ability to remember people’s names, Cardinal Harvey “cares about each seminarian,” Fr. Strand added. “He has genuinely taken time to get to know them and has been an attentive spiritual father to countless men pursuing the priesthood.”
Cardinal Harvey’s uncanny ability to recall names is no party trick, said Fr. John Baumgardner, Vice Rector and Director of Human Formation for the Seminary. Rather, it is a mark of his uniquely pastoral nature.
“He’s incredibly detail-oriented, and he just knows how to love people well. He knows how to serve Christ by being attentive to many, many different details (about people),” Fr. Baumgardner said.
Fr. Baumgardner was a junior at the University of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities when he first met Cardinal Harvey while studying abroad in Rome. “There’s a longtime tradition at the PNAC (Pontifical North American College) for seminarians from Wisconsin called the WI-Fry — once a semester all the seminarians in Rome will gather for a fish fry,” explained Fr. Baumgardner. At this event, he found himself unexpectedly seated next to Cardinal Harvey. “At first I was a little bit nervous, but he was just so easy to be with, so easy to talk to.”
When Fr. Baumgardner returned to the PNAC as a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee two years later, Cardinal Harvey was “very much a spiritual father,” calling him regularly to check in and often hosting the Milwaukee seminarians for dinner.
Cardinal Harvey goes out of his way to take the Wisconsin seminarians in Rome under his wing, said Fr. John Paul Mitchell, who spent two different periods in Rome studying for his licentiate and later for his doctoral studies.
“Over the course of each school year, he would arrange to take us out for periodic dinners, always paired so as to celebrate our birthdays and other major milestones in our formation,” said Fr. Mitchell, who is now the director of propaedeutic formation at the seminary. “He kept things light, and yet always found ways to weave in the wisdom he wanted us to consider at each given season, and to pick (and form) our brains so as to get up to speed on all that was going on back home.”
For Fr. Justin Weber, Cardinal Harvey’s “solicitude” was “a great source of comfort” during his formation in Rome, and he feels the Cardinal’s influence today in how he views his own priesthood. Fr. Weber is now the administrator of St. Jude the Apostle Parish in Wauwatosa.
“When welcoming pilgrims to St. Paul’s Outside the Walls (where Cardinal Harvey now works in Rome), he would often greet them on St. Paul’s behalf. It was always stirring to hear. It made St. Paul appear so present,” said Fr. Weber. “But that reminded me that, as a priest, I am called to speak on behalf of Jesus. The responsibility is a grave one. But Cardinal Harvey’s example shows how that responsibility can be carried with great grace.”
“Being asked to study theology in Rome is equal parts exciting and overwhelming,” said Fr. John LoCoco, Pastor of St. John Vianney Parish in Brookfield and Judicial Vicar for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, who studied at the PNAC both prior to and after his ordination in 2018. “To study in Rome means adapting to a new language and even style of learning, not to mention being away from the comforting familiarity of friends, family and the American culture.”
Cardinal Harvey’s “vigilant care” for the seminarians there is “like an anchor,” Fr. LoCoco said.
“For all of the men in Milwaukee, but also, from the Wisconsin dioceses, Cardinal Harvey is a father, friend and perennial support,” he said.
