ELMHURST — While Pedro Williams has long wanted to pursue the priesthood, seeing the Lord work through his classmates and through the priests and faculty at Cathedral Preparatory School and Seminary was a determining factor in his decision to enter the seminary right out of high school.

“I saw the Lord working, and, to see that in a school, it helped me a lot,” Williams said. “And also to see the priests and the faculty give their life to the students and help us discern our vocation — it was beautiful for me. It was a beautiful experience.”

Williams, Charles Aponte Jr., and Michael Laurenzano all committed to enter seminary following their graduation on May 22. Williams and Aponte Jr. will both attend Redemptoris Mater, the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Missionary House of Formation in Queens Village. Laurenzano will attend the College Seminary of the Immaculate Conception at Saint Andrew’s Hall, a part of Seton Hall University.

Like Williams, Aponte Jr. and Laurenzano were interested in becoming priests since they were young, and had that desire reinforced at Cathedral Prep.

“It was a good experience,” Aponte Jr. said of his time at the school, noting that “the people and the faculty at Cathedral [Prep] were very welcoming.” Laurenzano said the school was a great place to discern and consider seminary.

“The experience at Cathedral [Prep] is very much centered around brotherhood and being there for one another,” Laurenzano said. “Throughout my four years, everyone got along and was always there for each other. That’s the overall experience everyone will have going there.”

Bishop Robert Brennan said it’s “invigorating” to see that the three men will enter seminary. “I am proud of them, and we want to support and encourage them with our prayers for their vocation,” he said.

In all, 30 students graduated from Cathedral Prep as a part of the Class of 2025.

The seniors walked away having received over $10 million in college scholarships.

“We were freshmen together. They were the class that I saw from freshman year [I arrived in November] all the way through,” Bishop Brennan said. “It’s very satisfying to see their growth and to see how now they
are stepping into the next phases in their lives.”