Space engineer and Airforce Captain becomes a priest

 Pexels

It's one of the more unusual career transitions, but it hasn't stopped Brad Janz being proud of his old and his new jobs.

Having grown up as a Southern Baptist in Alabama, Janz made the rare step of becoming Roman Catholic, before then training for ordination to the priesthood.

In between times, he graduated from the Air Force Academy, going on to specialize in Astronautical Engineering.

After his conversion to Catholicism, he was confirmed in 2010 and then entered a Seminary in 2011. He's just finished training and was ordained this week.

'I started in prayer, asking the Lord, 'Where would you like me to go from here?'' he said. 'I just started experiencing, out of the blue, this call to investigate the priesthood. In prayer, I had this powerful experience of God calling me to be a priest.'

He also hasn't let adversity hold him back. He suffered a fracture to both ankles after falling while out running. It took him three months to recover but Fr Janz is now back to running. 'God's been good through it all,' he said, 'I completed a 5K run a few months ago. I'm still working with a physical therapist. I still think I'm improving."

News
Report calls for standardisation and specialism in RE
Report calls for standardisation and specialism in RE

An independent review into the national curriculum for schools has highlighted the urgent need for standardised religious education (RE) across the country and greater subject specialism to ensure “mastery in the subject”. 

GP body shifts to ‘unwarranted and misleading’ neutral stance on assisted suicide despite declining support
GP body shifts to ‘unwarranted and misleading’ neutral stance on assisted suicide despite declining support

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) is facing criticism after changing from its longstanding opposition to assisted suicide to a neutral stance, despite a significant reduction in support among its members for legalising the practice.

Faith leaders pray for Trump
Faith leaders pray for Trump

Faith leaders have gathered to pray for President Trump, but not everyone is happy.

Rare pre-Reformation scroll to go on display in York
Rare pre-Reformation scroll to go on display in York

An extremely rare pre-Reformation scroll will go on display after being found in a shoebox.