Three priests celebrate important jubilees
By DIANE SCHLINDWEIN
Managing Editor
Spring is traditionally the time when Bishop Thomas John Paprocki gathers priests together to pray, meet, and thank those priests who are celebrating significant jubilees. This year was no exception. On May 6, the following men were recognized at the gathering of the presbyterate at Villa Maria Catholic Life Center.
Congratulations go out to these priests — and thank you so much for sharing your gifts.
25 Years
Father Manuel P. Cuizon, Ph.D.
The pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Springfield, Father Manuel P. Cuizon — who goes by Father Manny — was ordained a priest in the Philippines on Nov. 17, 2001, and celebrated his first Mass at Christ the King Parish in the Diocese of Malolos, Bulacan. “Almost 25 years as a priest, I look back at my ordination still with a kind of gentle amazement. I remember on the day of my ordination, as I walked toward the altar with hope, nerves, and a heart full of promises, I didn’t yet understand what I was doing,” he said. “I thought the priesthood would be about what I could offer to God. But over the years, I’ve realized that it is all about what God has offered me through the people I serve.”
Father Manny said he came to the United States as a coincidence after having lived in a religious community known as the Somascan Fathers for about 10 years. He accepted an invitation from Father Tom Coughlin, superior of the Dominican Missionary for the Deaf and Mute in Madison, to stay in the community as a guest priest for a year.
“It was in 2013 that I became part of the diocese through the help of Father Jeff Holtman, (who was) pastor of Holy Family in Granite City and St. Mary and St. Mark in Madison,” he said. “I was his parochial vicar until June 2015.” Since then, he has served at St. Joseph in Chatham, Little Flower in Springfield, as a chaplain at St. Joseph Home (now closed) in Springfield, and as a parochial vicar at St. Jude in Rochester. “I moved to St. Joseph Parish in Springfield as parochial administrator in 2017, and as of August of 2021, I was elevated to pastor,” he said. Because he has no family members in the United States, he visits his siblings every year when he takes his vacation.
Father Manny believes “the priesthood is not for the perfect but for the willing.” “God does not call the strongest or the most impressive,” he said. “He calls instead those who are open to being shaped by His love. If you give Him your life, He will do more with it than you could ever imagine.”
No matter where he has lived, Father Manny has been moved by the people he has served. “For me, besides celebrating or doing the sacraments, the meaningful and beautiful part of being a priest is having the privilege to stand at the crossroads of people’s lives — being invited into their deepest joys, their hardest sorrows, and their most sacred moments, and being able to witness how God is quietly present in those moments.
“I’m aware that my life is not marked by status, but by service; not by privilege but by self-gift; not by authority for my own sake but by a life poured out in imitation of Christ who came not to be served but to serve,” Father Manny concluded. “Priesthood has taught me a lot, especially on how to love more honestly, to listen more deeply, and to rely on God more than myself. Even now, after all these years, I still feel humbled that God chose this path for me — and keeps choosing me, day after day.”
Father John Doctor, OFM
50 Years
As he celebrates his jubilee on June 5, Father John Doctor, OFM, says it is difficult for him to believe that he has been a priest for 50 years. However, he knows one thing for sure: “These years have been formative in becoming a servant leader for the Franciscan Order and the Church.”
Born and raised in a rural area in the Diocese of Joliet Illinois, Father John says the desire for the priesthood came to him very early in life. “At the age of 7, I felt a call to be a priest,” he said. “When I was in seventh grade, I also wanted to be a missionary. I entered the Franciscan High School Seminary in 1963. My vocation drew stronger not only to be a priest but also a follower of St. Francis of Assisi.” In 1974 he professed Solemn Vows as a Friar Minor. Then, in 1976 he was ordained a priest for the Franciscan Province of the Sacred Heart.
For 17 years, Father John was involved in forming young men in becoming Franciscan friars. The following 15 years he served in Provincial Administration of the Sacred Heart Province, first as Provincial Vicar, and then as Provincial Minister.
“It was in 2009 that I was assigned to Quincy University,” he said. “Presently I am serving as the Vice President for Mission and Ministry. My main responsibilities are to maintain and integrate the Catholic Franciscan identity and values into every aspect of university life — whether in or outside the classroom. I also oversee and participate in the retreat programs at our North Campus Facility. Walking with others is what I enjoy the most, especially accompanying our students in discovering and in actualizing who they are as a special reflection of God’s goodness and beauty.”
His life may not have turned out exactly as he thought, but Father John says his heart has remained rooted in the Franciscan vision: to faithfully live the Gospel by walking in the footprints of the poor, humble, and crucified Christ in the Spirit of St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi.
Father James Wheeler, OFM
60 Years
Earlier this year, Father James Wheeler, OFM, celebrated 60 years as a Franciscan priest. Father James was acquainted with Franciscans from a young age. A native of St. Patrick, Mo., he attended a public school that was taught by Franciscan sisters. Eventually, after meeting the friars from Quincy College — who helped out at St. Patrick on weekends when the parish pastor was in Ireland — he became more interested in the Franciscan way of life.
As a young man, he received a bachelor’s degree in political science from St. Louis University before studying philosophy at Our Lady of Angels Seminary in Cleveland, Ohio, and then received a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Quincy College in 1962. He served for two years in the Illinois National Guard and then entered the seminary. He was ordained on Jan. 9, 1966, at St. Francis Church in Teutopolis by Bishop Willam A. O’Connor.
Father James has been in ministry in a variety of states and places, but he was often in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. During his early years as a priest, he began directing Teens Encounter Christ (TEC) in Cleveland, Ohio. He was then invited to help with TEC in Quincy, where he remained very active. He ministered in Quincy from 1972 to 1985 — three years as director of education at Our Lady of Angels Seminary and about 10 years as the director of campus ministry/chaplain at Quincy College.
In the mid-1990s, he was pastor St. Anthony and St. Joseph parishes in Quincy and then was co-pastor in Calhoun County, serving four parishes. After a brief time in Chicago, Father James returned to Quincy, where he was parochial vicar at St. Francis Solanus from 1998 to 2011. He then spent a year as chaplain to the senior friars. He has been serving in supply ministry since 2012.
Father James says the friends he has made during his years of service are what shaped his priesthood. “From working with teenagers, college students, and parishioners, we learn from the people we serve,” he said. “They are God’s gift to us.”