Diego F. Cadavid, 34

First assignment: St. Agnes of Bohemia, Chicago

Education: Colegio La Paz and Colegio San Antonio Maria Claret, Colombia; Grand Seminaire de Namur, Belgium.

Parents: Blanca Contreras and the late Octavio Cadavid

First Mass: 3 p.m. May 19 at Santa Maria de Popolo, Mundelein

Diego Cadavid thought he would become a doctor but it was not meant to be. He was unable to gain admission to a Colombian medical school. The priesthood was not an option for him either.

“Being a priest was not a choice for me,” he said. “I was ‘out of Catholicity’ then.’

Cadavid felt an emptiness that was lessened when a friend asked him to go to church one Easter.

“I began praying and later on the feast of the Assumption I really felt God was with me,” he said. “It was as though there was a flame burning in my heart. After that I thought, ‘Why not become a priest!’”

Cadavid was in Paris then and visited the vocation director of a local seminary. He soon entered its discernment program but after a year felt he wasn’t yet ready. Cadavid then studied comparative religions. Four years later he went back to the seminary of the Emmanuel Community in Paris and studied for three years.

“God moved me towards the Chicago Archdiocese when I went to visit my sister who lives there,” he said. “I visited the church, saw its work with Hispanics and that started my mind thinking about going to Chicago. A year later I made the move.”

Cadavid wants to serve the archdiocese working with the Hispanic community.

“I want to serve as best I can at different levels,” he said.

Cadavid admits to feeling uncomfortable when he hears about the abuse scandal in the church.

“I feel uncomfortable because I love the universal church,” he said. “I feel bad when I even hear Catholics saying bad things against the church. This is not the first time it has been challenged. The Holy Spirit will help us work through this and it will pass. God always makes good things come out of bad.”

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