Grüß Gott! My name is Joe Allaire, and I am a third-year seminarian at Bruté studying for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. You may not recognize the language of the opening of this article, but it is a traditional German greeting from the region of Bavaria that means “may God greet you”. This spring and summer I will be studying abroad in this region in the city of Regensburg. During my time there, I will be primarily studying German as a second language at the Universität Regensburg.
I have been studying German at Marian University for the last three years under Dr. Wendy Westphal and have found a great deal of satisfaction and challenge in learning a new language. I had taken 4 years of Spanish before seminary and could never have imagined immersing myself so much in a different language. But after learning more about my family history and having the chance to visit Germany during my senior year of high school, I became enamored by the language that most of my ancestors spoke for hundreds of years. I decided to begin studying German during my freshman year and have never regretted the choice. This fall, I made the decision that I wanted to take my German fluency to the next level by studying the language abroad.
But that is not the only reason that is drawing me half-way across the world to Regensburg. The city of Regensburg is significant to me personally because my family comes from a small cluster of villages outside the city. When I saw there was a program based in Regensburg that lasted over 5 months, I was very interested. Once I began to learn more about the city and saw that it had several significant German Catholic sites such as the Cathedral of St. Peter and the monastery of St. Emmeram, I was even more interested. Additionally, the city was almost completely unscathed during World War II and has a beautiful medieval city center. The cherry on top was finding out that Regensburg was near and dear to the heart of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
During my five months in Europe, I will miss many things happening back here which saddens me greatly. I will miss the graduations here at Bruté, the ordinations in my diocese, and my family and friends for half a year. It can be intimidating at times, but overall, I am very excited for the opportunities that the study abroad will present. I will have the chance to experience the Church in Europe, meet German seminarians in the Regensburg Seminary (Das Priesterseminar Sankt Wolfgang), and be immersed in a different culture. So, as I head off to Deutschland, please keep me in your prayers and I cannot wait to tell you all about it (in the September, 2022 eNewsletter) when I return!