Bishop John Noonan | Diocese of Orland website

Seminarians in the Diocese of Orlando are gaining practical experience in hospital chaplaincy through the Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) program. Andrés Sanchez and Jacob Donnay, both seminarians, participated in this summer program as part of their formation.

During his assignment at Lakeland Regional Hospital, Sanchez was called upon to assist Father Cyril Imohiosen with a ceremony for a young organ donor. As the only Spanish-speaking person in the CPE program at the hospital, Sanchez acted as a translator. “Sanchez was the only Spanish- speaking person in the Clinical Pastoral Education program at Lakeland Regional Hospital, and Father Imohiosen needed a translator.”

Reflecting on his first days, Sanchez said, “To see the mom mourning the loss of her son and speaking to her as we’re honoring his life was my entry into the summer. To have that connection with this woman, to be the person to pray for her son and offer the ceremony for him set the tone for the summer — the sacredness of the work.”

The CPE program brings together seminarians from different faiths for two months of training at hospitals. The purpose is to prepare them to serve as chaplains and support patients facing illness or death.

Sanchez’s daily work took place on orthopedic and nephrology floors. He noted that much of what patients suffer is not physical but emotional. “I didn’t expect the kind of suffering. It’s not so much physical ailment. It’s more about what they’re carrying in their heart. You walk into a room and 30 minutes later that person has shared their entire life story — their pain, their trauma.”

He described moments when he felt he could do little except offer prayer and presence: “I’ve been in situations where I’ve been with families and prayed with them when their family member was dying. In those moments it can be frustrating to recognize my poverty, that I can’t do anything for them.” He continued, “That’s everything I could have done. God takes care of them from then on. It really is a special honor that you sense in the moment, that if I weren’t a chaplain here, this would have never happened.”

Sanchez added each summer experience opens his eyes to new realizations about ministry and has strengthened his desire to become a priest: “I can see the impact of what I’m doing in the present — ministering to people, praying with people. In some ways it’s like pseudo confession because people open up and share everything with you. There’s that confidence they have in being able to share their burden. It’s really rewarding. It’s tough. Some days you carry it home and have to bring that to the Lord, but I’m just grateful for it,” he said.

He emphasized prayer as essential: “It’s really just impossible to do this work well without prayer,” he noted. “I pray my Liturgy of the Hours and thank God there’s a chapel in the rectory where I’m able to spend time with the Lord in the Eucharist. Without those things, not only would I not do well, but I wouldn’t make it.”

Jacob Donnay completed his CPE assignment at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami where he served patients across all ages alongside classmates from various religious backgrounds.

“We learn from each other,” Donnay said about working with others from different faith traditions; they also receive ethics training and guidance on handling religious differences among patients.

Students practice delivering reflections suitable for interfaith audiences since most hospital chapels serve people from many backgrounds: “You never know who might be there, whether they’re Christian, Catholic, Muslim, atheist,” Donnay said.

Donnay recounted an encounter when he ministered to someone who had requested a rabbi but one was unavailable: “We pray to the same God,” he told them before sharing prayer together.

He also highlighted patient gratitude: Recently three patients told him they had received miracles—two received kidney transplants—and credited God for these gifts: “God is working through the hands of surgeons...They’ve received a gift of better health...And their immediate response is ‘Thank God.’”

Both seminarians complete their programs by August 8th.

The Diocese of Orlando was established in 1968 and covers Brevard, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Polk, Seminole, Sumter, and Volusia Counties; it currently includes 79 parishes and is led by Bishop James Noonan.