By Paula Day

Father Ronald G. Fuchs, Jr., was ordained a priest for the archdiocese June 2 by Bishop Daniel Leo Ryan, ordinary of the diocese of Springfield, Ill.

Concelebrating the 10:30 a.m. liturgy at the Cathedral of Christ the King were Father Edward Dillon, vicar general, and Father Isaac McDaniel, OSB, the new priest’s spiritual director. Other concelebrants were Father Edward Thein and Father Don Kenny, past and present vocation directors for the archdiocese; Father Richard Wise, pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul parish where Father Fuchs worked as a seminarian; and fellow St. Meinrad alumni, Father David Talley, Father Fuchs offered his first Mass on Pentecost Sunday, June 3, at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Decatur.

Among the more than 50 out-of-town guests at the ordination were Father Fuchs’ parents, Faye and Ronald Fuchs, Sr., of Chicago; his brothers Joe, John, Tom and sister, Lisa.

The candidate was presented to Bishop Ryan by Father Kenny. After accepting him in the name of the whole church, Bishop Ryan questioned Fuchs about his readiness to accept the responsibilities of the priesthood. The candidate then promised obedience to Archbishop Eugene A. Marino, SSJ, and his successors and prostrated himself before the altar while the gathered priests and laity prayed for him and changed the Litany of the Saints.

In the age-old sign of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, Bishop Ryan and the assembled clergy, one by one, placed their hands on the head of the candidate and prayed silently for him. Bishop Ryan recited a prayer of consecration; invoking God’s blessing on Father Fuchs.

Father Kenny vested the candidate with the stole and chasuble, signs of his call to priestly service. Bishop Ryan then anointed the hands of the newly ordained with chrism.

The chalice and paten Father Fuchs will use in the celebration of Mass were presented by his parents and Bishop Ryan consecrated them for sacred use. Before Father Fuchs took his place beside Bishop Ryan to celebrate the Liturgy of the Eucharist for the first time, Bishop Ryan and the other priests extended to him the sign of peace.

In addition to those concelebrating the Mass around the altar, approximately 12 priests participated in the ordination ceremony.

Father Fuchs was born in Huntsville, Ala., the oldest child in what he describes as “a very close family.” He lived in Chicago most of his life, but his father’s work with a pharmaceutical company took the family to several states. The young Fuchs also lived in Missouri, Ohio, Indiana, Florida and Georgia. He thinks of the south as his home and always wanted to make it his permanent residence. For this reason he applied to Archbishop Thomas Donnellan for acceptance as a candidate for the priesthood in the Atlanta archdiocese. He earned bachelor and master of divinity degrees from St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana.

Father Fuchs recalls that he was “going to be a priest ever since the fourth grade, maybe earlier.” Being an altar server was very important to him as a youngster and he was “always close” to priests he knew while growing up. He attended public schools, CCD classes, and was involved as a teen in parish youth activities. He remembers that any time he did or said something “off color,” his peers would rein him in saying, “and you’re going to be a priest.”

After completing his undergraduate studies, the 22-year-old young man decided he needed to take time out to consider other vocational choices. For the next five years he worked first as a salesman and then as a youth minister in St. Petronille parish in Glen Ellyn, Ill. There he initiated a successful program involving youth from various parishes for which he was recognized with a youth ministry award.

In the fall of 1986 he returned to seminary life spending a semester at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, Fla. The following semester he enrolled again at St. Meinrad, this time as a seminarian for the Atlanta archdiocese. He says he hasn’t been disappointed in his choice of diocese, adding, “People here are very welcoming, very warm.” During his last two summers as a seminarian, Fuchs returned to Atlanta to gain ministerial experience, in 1988 at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Decatur. The only Catholic in the program, he ministered to patients with AIDS, cancer and serious cardiovascular diseases.

The following summer, in what St. Meinrad’s calls a “supervised parochial experience,” he assisted in the life of Sts. Peter and Paul parish in Decatur. In addition to regular parish ministry, he visited the Metro Correctional Institution in DeKalb County. Classified security prison, the facility ranks between medium and high in security.

Father Fuchs met his ordaining bishop as a teenager when then Father Ryan was pastor and vicar general for the Joliet, Ill. Diocese. The two became friends when Fuchs helped out in Father Ryan’s parish.

Bishop Ryan had planned to be present at his friend’s ordination and when Archbishop Marino was overcome with exhaustion and needed an extended time away from his episcopal duties, the Springfield bishop offered to be the ordaining prelate.

“It’s a truly joyful thing to have a friend ordain me,” Fuchs said a few days before the ceremony.

“I treasure a long friendship with Ron Fuchs and his family,” Bishop Ryan said when he introduced himself at the ordination liturgy. “I planned to come along for the ride and I found out there was work to be done,” he added, alluding to his role as ordaining prelate.

In his homily, Bishop Ryan said, “We support and we pray for and we thank God today for Ron Fuchs who will forever more be a servant after the pattern of Jesus Christ.”

Jesus promised that his yoke was easy and his burden light, the bishop said, admitting that when he personally has not found the burden light it was because he was not following St. Paul’s directive: “We do not preach ourselves; it is Christ Jesus we preach.”

Of his son, Ron Fuchs Sr., said, “He enjoys people and sees what’s important in life.” Fuchs pointed out that members of Mrs. Fuchs’ family who were deacons in their own church had traveled from out of town to be present for the ordination. Mrs. Fuchs in a Birmingham, Ala., native with a Southern Baptist background.

Father Fuchs has been assigned as parochial vicar at Christ the King parish, the parish in the archdiocese where he first attended an Easter Mass. He was uplifted by the beauty of that liturgy and recalls feeling very proud to be a Catholic. He was particularly impressed with the Cathedral choir.

As a seminarian Fuchs developed a love for classical music, especially music composed for the organ. Among his favorite composers are the Frenchmen Charles Marie Widor, Cesar Franck and Marcel Dupre.

Also as a seminarian he became familiar with the Benedictine Lexio Divina prayer form, a way of praying using Sacred Scripture. He continues to find this prayer form nourishing.

Father Fuchs says he is concerned about what seems to be a tendency in the Church today to downgrade freedom of conscience and what the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1968 described as “licit dissent.” In this serious process, the individual studies the teachings of the Church and makes a personal faith commitment to God.

“You can’t let others make your faith decisions for you,” he commented. “As a priest I will explain the teachings of the Church, but I won’t tell people what to do. Each person is responsible for his own faith commitment. I hope to enable people to take responsibility for their own faith.”

Father Fuchs sees great value in dialogue between people with different opinions. “The dialogue process is inherent in keeping the faith above,” he pointed out.

He begins his assignment at the Cathedral June. 14.