Father Zach Etienne distributes communion during the Back to School Mass in August. File photos
By John Rohlf
The Message assistant editor
There are currently 13 active diocesan priests with at least 20 years of priestly ministry to the Diocese of Evansville.
Three of those 13 active priests are Father Zach Etienne, Father Tony Ernst and Father Paul Ferguson. All three priests are currently pastors at their respective parishes.
Father Zach Etienne is currently the pastor at Good Shepherd Parish in Evansville, a role he has held since 2010. He was ordained in June 2004 and his other assignments included stops at St. Joseph Parish in Jasper and St. Mary Parish in Ireland. He is also the Dean of the South Deanery.
Father Etienne grew up in Tell City, which is close to St. Meinrad Seminary. He said his mother grew up in a family of nine kids, with two of her siblings choosing religious life. He said growing up, they constantly had priests and nuns around, which allowed them to know not just the holy life they were supposed to lead but also the down to earth kind of people they were.
“We constantly grew up in what we thought was a normal Catholic environment. We found later, no, you were just weird. That’s OK,” Father Etienne said. “It would be nothing for a priest to show up at our house on an afternoon and join in the gatherings of families that had shown up at the house or one of the lakes we were at. And just once again, the day to day life of seeing the normal life of a person. So priesthood was always a possibility.”
Father Paul Ferguson greets Father Tyler Underhill during the 2024 priesthood ordination.
Father Paul Ferguson is currently assigned as pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Washington, where he has been assigned since January 2016. Ordained in May 2002, Father Ferguson also has served at Holy Redeemer Parish in Evansville; Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Haubstadt; Holy Cross Parish in Fort Branch; and St. Bernard Parish in Snake Run.
Father Ferguson said despite feeling called to the priesthood from an early age, he did not enter seminary until he was 34 years old. From that point on, it has been a “nice, beautiful peace that God has given to me,” he said.
“I’m what they call a late vocation,” Father Ferguson said. “I always knew that God was calling me, even when I was little. But then when I got into high school and stuff like that, you know how things change. And so I went off to college and so forth. And so again, it was kind of one of those things always in the back of my mind but I’d always say to God basically I don’t think you really want me. So then I’d kind of shy away from it.”
Father Tony Ernst has been a priest in the Diocese of Evansville for the past 26 years.
A priest since 1998, Father Tony Ernst is currently serving as pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Vincennes. He has held assignments at various parishes in the diocese, including St. Joseph Parish in Princeton, Sts. Peter and Paul Parish in Haubstadt and St. John the Evangelist Parish in Daylight.
Father Ernst said he came from “ a great family.” He grew up in Celestine and went to St. Celestine Parish. Growing up, he enjoyed serving Mass and being close to the altar.
“I thought it was really neat the things that priests did,” Father Ernst said. “So that was within me.”
Father Ernst also said the influence of Benedictine nuns growing up had an impact on him.
“They were some of my teachers and they came to our house,” Father Ernst said. “And I actually give them more credit than probably any other religious people in my life because of their joy and their love for us. I don’t know, there was something about that, the religious sisters, that was really special to me. So I think they planted a lot of seeds in me about a vocation.”
Decision to enter seminary
Despite the influences early in his life, Father Ernst said his priorities changed starting in middle and high school. It was not until he was about 21 years old in college when he started to consider the priesthood. He said it took him about six months from that time to decide to enter seminary and pursue priesthood. He said that time was “pretty intense” and said he had “some pretty intense spiritual experiences.”
“It’s very mysterious actually because it happened kind of quickly and yet, I guess it didn’t,” Father Ernst said. “Things that happened in my life that God was getting me ready for that. And finally, I figured that out with the help of some spiritual direction that God had closed certain doors and opened other ones.”
Father Ernst said he always thought he would get married. However, when God closed some of those doors, others opened for him.
“It was just like I walked through them and here I am. It’s a great mystery really but I’ve been very blessed,” Father Ernst said.
Father Paul Ferguson worked over a decade as a respiratory therapist for 13 years before answering the call to priesthood and entering the seminary. He said God eventually got him to a point where Father Ferguson decided to attend some retreats, including one at Mundelein Seminary in Chicago, Illinois, where Father Ferguson eventually attended seminary.
“At first, I thought I was going to be, not a diocesan priest, but a community, like the monks and so forth,” Father Ferguson said. “But again, God continued to say OK, I want you to call the diocese. So I called the diocese and I thought well, they won’t want me. But guess what? I’ve been here for now 22 years. It’s been a great journey and a great time.”
Father Etienne said his plan growing up was to be a father. It was when he was single at age 35 that he started to be open to the idea of priesthood. In May of 1999, he attended a Come and See Retreat at St. Meinrad Seminary and that August, he was enrolled at Mundelein Seminary.
“I think I went more to the seminary to prove to those people who’d always said you’d be a good priest that I was open to it, but you were wrong and here’s where God’s led me,” Father Etienne said. “But through the years in the seminary and the staff at Mundelein Seminary, University of St. Mary of the Lake, I became more open to the possibility.
A combined 68 years of diocesan priestly ministry
Father Etienne said growing up, he and his siblings “always had the great witness” of their parents in their marriage vocation. He said through his priesthood, there have been surprises, sometimes joyfully and sometimes not joyfully. He said he learned from those experiences.
“They stopped me and my brother (Father) Bernie (Etienne) and said you guys have to go to the hospital, your nephew just died of SIDS. That experience. The death of a little kid. Later, you learn how it helps you in your ministry. I’ve buried a lot of kids, even up at Ireland. Not the way you expected life. But it helps you in your ministry and makes it a little bit easier as you try to comfort others through that.”
Father Etienne said when he was assigned to Good Shepherd Parish over a decade ago, it was scary coming to a place with a school. However, he said it has been a blessing.
“If I’m having a bad day, I can walk in the school,” Father Etienne said. “The kids will start chanting. Maybe upset the principal and others. But then I can walk back here in a good mood and jump back into the other things I’ve got to do for the day. So there is an enjoyment to being in those connections.”
Father Ernst said when he was first ordained, his spiritual life seemed a little easier because he did not have all the responsibilities he currently has. He said he has found when you get burdened with a lot of different things, it can impact you spiritually, both for good and for ill.
He said one of the most rewarding aspects of diocesan priesthood is being a part of celebrating people’s lives, such as baptizing babies or being with couples as they get married. He said there are challenges too.
“When you have to deal with folks that are really struggling and you don’t always know what to do obviously, what to say, how to handle it,” Father Ernst said. “The most important thing I’ve found is being with people and being present to them. You don’t have to always have the answers because we don’t. But being with them and showing them Christ’s love, that’s the important thing.”
Father Ernst said the act of surrendering is a key aspect of the priesthood. Father Ernst said his “limitations are many” and that the only way he could be a good and holy priest is to surrender his own humanity and his own limitations.
“When you look for the things that would make for a really good priest humanly speaking, I don’t really have a lot of those,” Father Ernst said. “So when I first got called, I would think about those things a lot until I had some good priests and my spiritual directors that told me to stop worrying about that so much and start surrendering more and let the Lord fill that up.”
Father Ferguson believes the most beautiful part about being a diocesan priest is walking with people through many things, including annulments and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
“A lot of priests will say I don’t like to do annulments,” Father Ferguson said. “But the thing of it is you get to walk with the people. And you get to see their struggles but you also get to help them through those struggles. And I think that’s one of the most important things is, as a priest, we’re not only walking with the whole community but we’re also walking with individuals in their time of need but also those times of praise.”
Father Ferguson said his priesthood is a gift from God, noting God uses priests as instruments. He said he has peace knowing God will always be there to help him through the difficult moments of the priesthood.
Father Ferguson recalled saying to God he did not want to be a priest because when he was younger, he dealt with a stuttering issue when he got nervous. He said God helped him overcome that, stressing that God does provide what you need when you need it.
“I always said give me an Aaron so I would be able to accomplish what you’re calling me to,” Father Ferguson said. “But he has given me that peace and has helped me on the way to know there’s really nothing to fear. The people are here because they are part of the Body of Christ. You’re here to help lead them and they love you and you love them. And so there’s really not a reason to be fearful of that. And to do the best you can to be that leader for them.”