Becoming a priest after killing 2 men in DUI crash

Robert Spaulding understands not everyone will approve of his ordination as a Roman Catholic priest this week.

Some might wonder how a man convicted in a drunken-driving accident that caused the deaths of two fellow seminarians could provide spiritual guidance.

"I can see easily how they could say, 'Wait a minute. This guy has done these things, how can he help us make moral decisions in our lives?'" said Spaulding, 31, a former music ministry assistant at St. Mary Parish in Buffalo Grove.

But Spaulding says his mistake, and the forgiveness and support shown to him as he came to grips with it, will make him a more compassionate priest.

Spaulding was drunk when he crashed a car into a tree and killed two men while a seminarian at University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein in 2005. The men who died, Jared Cheek, 23, and Matthew Molnar, 28, were fellow seminarians.

Now officially on the job as a priest at Holy Name Catholic Community Church in Sheridan, Wyo., Spaulding said he'll answer questions about his past and won't hide from it. However, he said, he won't address his felony conviction at his first Mass on Sunday - because it's already common knowledge.

Authorities said Spaulding had a 0.13 percent blood-alcohol level and was driving 43 to 70 mph on a seminary campus road in Mundelein, which has a 25 mph limit, when he lost control and hit the tree.

Spaulding received a sentence of 30 months probation and community service after pleading guilty to two counts of reckless homicide and aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol in May 2006, about eight months after the crash.

He avoided prison largely because of the forgiveness shown by the victims' families. Now, Spaulding said, he's taking advantage of his second chance and will perform good works as a priest for the Diocese of Cheyenne.

"I don't think it's an overstatement to say that everything that has happened to me after the crash is a pure gift," said Spaulding, whose ordination Monday in Laramie, Wyo., was attended by about 620 guests.

Molnar's mother, Pam, was one of them.

She said watching Spaulding become a priest was profound. The Kansas resident said she holds no bitterness.

"It was just indescribable to see. It was wonderful," said Pam Molnar, 63. "It was an affirmation that we did the right thing in forgiving Rob. We didn't want to see him incarcerated. It would be such a wasteful thing. It wouldn't be right to take this man away who has so much potential, so much hope."

Spaulding assisted the music ministry at St. Mary Parish in Buffalo Grove when the drunken-driving wreck occurred in September 2005. He praised Pastor Marc Reszel for taking a chance and letting him live at St. Mary's rectory, starting a day after the crash when he had to depart the seminary until April 2007.

Reszel, director of liturgical music Mary Pietro and two others from St. Mary continue to support Spaulding, as evidenced by their attendance at his ordination ceremony.

Pietro, 47, of Deer Park, said Spaulding will be particularly adept at dealing with people in crisis.

"Rob understands great pain," she said. "He's experienced it and is moving through it. He'll be able to help others in ways he might not have if this never happened."

Reszel sees the potential for reciprocal compassion. "I would hope that those who know mercy will show him mercy," he said. "In turn, he'll be able to show mercy to others."

Spaulding did public speaking and worked with Schaumburg-based Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists during and after his probation. He was unsure whether he'd have a chance to complete his studies, because the Mundelein seminary would not consider readmitting him for at least two years. Seminary officials declined to comment.

Unwilling to drop his desire to become a priest, Spaulding was admitted to the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He moved from Buffalo Grove to a parish in Berwyn in 2007, so he could be closer to the classes at the school that's not part of the Archdiocese of Chicago, unlike the Mundelein seminary.

With the backing of the Diocese of Cheyenne, Spaulding graduated from the Chicago seminary in May and returned to his home state to be ordained a deacon. That led to his ordination as a priest three months later.

None of what's happened would have been possible without the support from the late seminarians' families and St. Mary Parish, he said.

"Let's use this incident and bring life from it," Spaulding said, "and not create any more harm and pain than already happened."