Former New Jersey Governor James McGreevey has begun the process of becoming an Episcopal priest and plans to enter a seminary program this fall, the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports:
“McGreevey, who often described himself as a devout Catholic while in public office, was officially received into the Episcopal religion on Sunday, at St. Bartholomew's Church in Manhattan, and is now part of the church's ‘discernment' phase that usually precedes any seminary work, said the Rev. Kevin Bean, vicar at St. Bartholomew. ‘This process that he's in right now, is not going to be some snap of the finger, overnight process. That will not happen. That's not how it works. He knows that,' Bean said. ‘And so at the parish level, and at the diocesan level, everyone knows that this is a process that … intentionally is deliberate. You don't enter into it unadviseably.'”
McGreevey was not available for comment, according to the paper, but friends of McGreevey say the news comes as no surprise.
Said David France, the co-author of McGreevey's memoir: “His spiritual life has always been central to who he is. From the time he was a kid, he thought about going into Catholic seminary a number of times. The idea of going into the Episcopal seminary has been in his mind for at least a couple of years.”
And we have the first photos! Actually, just a little imaginary shot we created of future Father Jim.
