I am the second son and the last born of the seven children born to my parents, Mr. Innocent Ihemedu (91 years old) and Mrs. Cecilia Ihemedu (85 years old). My parents and siblings live in Nigeria.
I have always believed that a life that does not touch another life in a positive way is a wasted life. This value set, of making a humane difference in the lives of others, came from my parents. Early in life, they taught my siblings and me that for many the hope of “being and becoming” a valued community member depends on the ability to respond. For father, imparting knowledge is one crucial way to unlock the doors of opportunities. This is what motivated him to pursue a career in education and teaching and to encourage his children when they chose to follow likewise. Except for mother who worked at home, everyone in my family is a career educator of some sort. It is the same underlying philosophy of touching hearts and changing lives, that moved me to discern a path that joins the human spiritual ministry through a vocation in the Catholic priesthood with a pursuit of further service through counselor education and counseling psychology.
I attended high school seminary in my native country from 1986 to 1992, engaged in a further year of apostolic teaching work, and then entered Seat of Wisdom College Seminary in 1993 to study philosophy.
Because I thought I was being called to community life, I left the Seat of Wisdom Seminary in 1997 to join the Marians of the Immaculate Conception in Argentina. The Marians are the Buddhist monks of the Catholic Church except more forbidding in lifestyle. They spent their entire lives confined behind the walls of their unpresuming monastery. My affiliation as a Marian lasted just a year. A local Church worker from the U.S. inquired if I might be willing to serve the Church in the United States and soon, Auxiliary Bishop Peter Rosazza of the Archdiocese of Hartford sought my relocation to the U.S in January of 2000.
My seminary program resumed anew in Connecticut and took me across the many cities and towns of the Archdiocese of Hartford. Prior to ordination to the priesthood, I held a job in a local pharmacy (Walgreen’s) as a nightshift store manager as well as a second job as a Technical Assistant, CenterEdge Project for the Office of Urban Affairs of the Archdiocese of Hartford where our charge was to help promote greater public understanding of Church efforts to address socioeconomic issues and social justice in New Haven area cities and towns.
Following priestly ordination on May 20, 2006, I served as an assistant pastor of Saint Aedan and Saint Brendan Parishes in New Haven for three years. In August of 2009, Archbishop Mansell appointed me the pastor of the two dying and almost pronounced unsustainable multicultural parishes in Hartford, St. Justin and St. Michael. With a committed staff and willing parishioners, we took on the rebirth process which gradually resulted in steady renewal over six years, and thereafter to the successful merger of the two parishes.
During this journey, as some of the blessings that helped teach me how to minister, commune with, and to keep striving along as a member of my communities are: a B.A in Philosophy 2001; M.A. in Moral Theology 2004 and M.Div. in Theology 2006 (from Mount Saint Mary’s University & Seminary); M.S. in Counseling 2012 (Southern Connecticut State University) and a PhD in Counseling Psychology 2018 (University of Connecticut).
Fr. John has told me many wonderful things about you. He and the entire parish staff have been wonderful in welcoming me to Torrington. I am looking forward to our time together. My prayer is that all of you young and old who come to me in the parsonage, at church, at sermons, or at the confessional seeking the face of Christ, will not walk away disappointed.
Rev. Emmanuel Ihemedu
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