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Priesthood beckons for Christopher Heanue, proud son of Irish immigrants

By
APRIL DREW,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer

Published Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 10:54 AM
Updated Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 11:15 AM

 

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Christopher Heanue

After receiving the call from God when he was just 16, the youngest child of Irish immigrants based in New York took his first class at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome on Monday, October 12 on the long road to becoming a priest. 

Christopher Heanue, 22, whose father Martin hails from Clifden, Co. Galway and his mother, Kathleen from Navan, Co. Meath, told the Irish Voice via email from Rome last week he “realized that it would be nice to be a priest” when he was a young teenager. Heanue said it wasn’t a “decision” to devote his life to God. It was a calling.

“It’s a calling because a decision is not something that requires this much sacrifice or this much attention. A calling is something that keeps ‘bothering’ you until you give into it,” he said.

“I knew that at this moment (16) I was being called to this lifestyle because everything else that I wanted to do just didn’t seem right at that stage in my life. I know that God wants me here for a reason.”
Although only 22, Heanue is one of the longest training priests in his class.

“Most of the people in my class have only done four years in college. I did four years of high school and four years of college,” said Heanue, proud of his commitment at a young age. 

Heanue, a native of Maspeth, Queens, attended local public schools before entering Cathedral Preparatory Seminary High School. It was during his time at this school that the young Irish American felt his calling to the priesthood.

Heanue continued his study on to the college seminary, Cathedral Seminary Residence, while studying at St. John's University. During his senior year Heanue was chosen to continue his studies in Rome.

In early July, surrounded by family and friends, Heanue celebrated his candidacy Mass at his parish, the Blessed Virgin Mary Help of Christians in Woodside, Queens.

Heanue, the youngest of four children, spent the first month of his five-year tenure in Rome studying Italian in Assisi, Italy. Then he moved on to Rome to continue his immersion in the language and on Monday, October 12, Heanue officially began his training to become a priest.

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