Fr. Sean Downing, now former Chaplain of Central Catholic, has received a new opportunity to become chaplain for two other Marianist schools in St. Louis, Missouri. The news was announced a few months back, and Fr. Sean has recently been at other Marianist locations around the country. I got to catch up with him over a cellphone call, to ask him a few questions about him moving, and what the future holds for him.

Vianney High School and Chaminade High School are the two schools in St. Louis that Fr. Sean will be in charge of next. He was Chaplain at Central for four years, since 2017. Before Central, Fr. Sean says, “I spent one year at St. Mary’s University, working in campus ministry there. But before that, I was also at Holy Rosary that year.” He continues, “But before that, I was in Rome in the Seminary.”

Fr. Sean was a Seminarian in Rome for a few years, and describes it as, “It was great and challenging, studying the academics, the theology in Rome, at the Angelical University. It just opened my mind to new insights. It was a great scholarly experience. I also lived at the Marianist Seminary in Rome of course. It was an International Seminary, so there were Marianists from all over the world.”

He explains that the countries represented included India, West Africa, South Korea, Spain, and more. He was happy to express the diversity and growth of the Marianist Tradition, all over the world. “It was a rich, and international experience where I learned a lot about from different cultures. Living in a beautiful City like Rome, and all the beautiful buildings like the Vatican, it was just a blessing to have lived there.”

Then, on to San Antonio he came, and San Antonio’s rich culture was in no way strange to him at all given all the time he spent in Rome. “I think coming from the midwest to San Antonio, I think I was able to pick up on the richness of the great culture,” he says. “San Antonio is such a diverse city, so there are a lot of other cultures going on besides the dominant Latino culture.”

As a priest, Fr. Sean has also moved a lot. Coming to Central definitely was a new adventure for him. He says, “It was a very life-giving experience. To be present to the students in all of their joys and sufferings, it was a great gift to be with Fr. Cowie, to spend a little bit of time with him was a gift.” He continues, “Just to be present with the students, and for the sacraments. Of course, daily mass, confession, and just when they wanted to talk about how life was going.”

I asked him if there was one thing he could take from his experience here at Central, he says, “Love and passion that Central Catholic has for the Marianist Charism.” As for one thing he is going to miss most about the school, he says, “You guys. The students. The young men of Central Catholic.” He says it’s because of the energy and fun that happens when there is a presence in the building.

Looking ahead, Fr. Sean says, “Thank you to the Central Catholic community. It was an awesome four years that I will always remember throughout my life. Everything I learned from Central, I hope to continue and be like Mary, and bring it to the young men of Vianney and Chaminade High School.