July 2008 - Father Jim Cheney

Listen to Catholic Radio Weekly's Interview with Catholic Extension Hidden Hero Fr. Jim Cheney 

NOTE: In recent years, approximately 11 percent of all U.S. priestly vocations have come from prior military service, and an additional 6 percent come from a military family connection.  One out of 6 priestly vocations has some kind of military connection, and the need for Catholic priests in all branches of the military continues to grow. Our Hidden Hero for the month of July, Fr. Jim Cheney, a Navy chaplain since 1997 who has been recently deployed to Africa, is representative of our US priests who have extended their service not only to their flock, but also to their country.

Father Jim Cheney grew up on a dairy farm near Wolf Lake, Minnesota. Sixteen years ago, as a young seminarian for the Diocese of Fargo, he was pictured mopping floors at the Newman center at North Dakota State University - one of the jobs that, along with Catholic Extension aid, helped pay his way through the seminary.

The magazine covered his ordination in 1995 and ran his thank-you letters when his rural parishes were on the receiving end of Catholic Extension subsidy grants.

And in a happy twist of fate, three years ago he came back to the Newman center as pastor.

Now 43, Father Cheney's mustache is gone, his hair close-cropped and grayer. After joining the Navy Reserves in 1997, he has served in Guam, Minneapolis Fleet Hospital, USS MOUNT WHITNEY, CHINHAE S. Korea, and Bethesda Navy Hospital.  Recently, he got word of another assignment, "I was recalled to active duty for service to Camp Lemonier and the Horn of Africa," Fr. Cheney says. "I am the priest who runs the Catholic program for Camp. I offer Mass everyday.  I also have Eucharistic adoration and sponsor a Thursday night run to the local Cathedral in Djibouti.  I teach RCIA and have received 6 people into the faith during my tour here."

Fr. Cheney also coordinates runs for service members to visit local orphanages, and counsels service personnel. He is responsible for the distribution of over 8000 lbs of donations to local Djibouti - much of it sent through church groups.

This month, Fr,. Cheney is leaving Africa and returning to the Newman Center at North Dakota State. It's obvious that ministering to college students is keeping him young.

"It was a privilege to come back here and give something back," he said in an early summer interview about his duties at the school. "[College] is a really important time in your life - a time where you either walk deeper into your faith or you walk away from it." 

He credits FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students), a national outreach to college campuses, as kick-starting students' deeper exploration of their faith.

Besides enriching the students' spiritual lives, the program has surfaced several vocations. Five men elected to enter the seminary last year and one woman entered the convent.

Before shipping out on his last tour of duty, Fr. Cheney became emotional."I could barely bless the people," he says. "I guess I went through what a father would go through leaving his family, because the Newman center has been like my family."

Catholic Extension recently approved a $35,000 grant for a new roof on the center, and the project has been completed (pictured).  "The shingles were the same ones that were there when I was a student," Father Cheney noted.

And Fr. Cheney is now exploring a much more ambitious project: building a Catholic dormitory on campus to house up to 200 students. The dorm, patterned after one built by the St. John Newman Center at the University of Illinois, would be open to all students but would be designed "to preserve a Catholic culture and help students pursue the ‘Big Three:' chastity, sobriety and excellence in studies."

Catholic Extension helps support many missionaries like Fr. Cheney who work hard to bring God's comfort to America's poor and struggling Catholics. Will you consider helping them with a gift today?