Notre Dame Alumnus to be ordained a priest on June 1

Ben Schrantz, who grew up and worshipped in the Utica area, will be ordained a Roman Catholic priest during a service at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 1, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Syracuse. 

Pawel Zmija, from the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Syracuse and who grew up in Poland, also be ordained with Schrantz.

Schrantz, 31, attended Westmoreland Road and St. Peter’s elementary schools, Notre Dame Junior-Senior High School, and Mohawk Valley Community College before transferring to SUNY Fredonia.

At Fredonia, he majored in History and minored in Political Science and Museum Studies. Following his undergraduate work and after deciding to pursue the priesthood, he attended Theological College at The National Seminary of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Family members include his parents, Karl and Diane Schrantz; and siblings Sarah and Rebecca Schrantz and Emmanuella Agyeman Duah.

Schrantz was a parishioner of St. Paul’s Church in Whitesboro, where he will celebrate his first Mass at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 2. He will not learn where he will be assigned until after his ordination.

In addition to his chosen vocation, Schrantz enjoys hiking, kayaking, and being outdoors. He also loves reading, dabbles in graphic design, and “appreciates the occasional video game now and then.”

Though he didn’t fully realize his calling until his college years, Schrantz deeply believes God and the Holy Spirit are guiding him.

“I think God calls each of us to do something,” he said. “I think of St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians (12: 1-31). In that quiet place in our hearts, that is where God speaks to us. It is in our gifts and our talents, what makes us happy — really happy, a joyful happiness — that God calls us to grow. I do not know what kind of priest I will be, but I believe God called me down this path. And if I believe that, then I have to believe God will supply me with the tools to do the tasks at hand.”