The Collar: A Year Inside a Catholic Seminary

What does it mean to take up God’s work? What motivates a man in these times to leave the secular for the spiritual life? In The Collar, Jonathan Englert finds the answers in the journey of five men toward the priesthood at Milwaukee’s Sacred Heart Seminary. Like many modern seminarians these men have chosen a “second career” as priests. With unprecedented access to this closed world, Englert introduces us to a divorced father and avid hunter from Wyoming, an ex-salesman and Marine with ADHD, a recently widowed father of four, a blind musician, and a fifth-year pupil close to ordination. With wit and sometimes heartbreaking candor, they face the challenges of priestly life -- from the traditional hurdles of obedience and chastity to the modern day skepticism of their friends and families.

JONATHAN ENGLERT, a graduate of the Columbia School of Journalism, attended Fordham University School of Law and has written for the New York Times and Catholic Digest, among other publications. Before arriving at Milwaukee’s Sacred Heart Seminary, where this book is set, Englert had access extended and then revoked by two different dioceses, in one case after more than a year of research and reporting. He is a convert to Catholicism and lives with his wife in New York City.