Answering God's Call
Priest’s advice helped Capuchin brother persevere

By Tim Puet
Catholic Times Reporter

Brother Thomas Piolata, OFM Cap, says the wise words of a Columbus diocesan priest helped him discern how best to serve God.

“I had thought about becoming a priest since I was a boy, and joining the Capuchin Franciscan order had been on my mind off and on since I was 18,” he said. “It was an open door, and I just had to try it, so I applied to become a Capuchin postulant (someone in the first year of formation for possible life as a member of the order).

“In the summer of 2012, just before beginning postulancy, I had a talk with Msgr. Frank Lane (now retired and living in Cincinnati), whom I had known for several years and who knew I was discerning the priesthood. He told me, ‘You’ve made your decision, and you should stick to it, unless the formators helping you discern tell you this life is not for you, or if there is an overly powerful presence of the Lord pushing you out of religious life. Don’t let discernment become a pathology.’

“His advice became crucial for my eventual perseverance. The year of postulancy and the following year of novitiate were quite difficult because I was dealing with a broken heart from the end of a serious relationship with a young woman and because the strict lifestyle of the novitiate made me feel caged,” Brother Thomas said.

“But I knew I would be lying to myself if I didn’t continue and left for the wrong reasons. Eventually, it became clear that God was calling me. I’ll always be grateful that I listened to Msgr. Lane.”

During his novitiate, Brother Thomas decided to become a lay brother instead of a priest because he felt  called to serve as a theologian focusing on academic work. Like Capuchin priests, Capuchin lay brothers take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience but are not ordained to celebrate Mass or hear confessions.

“I’ve fallen deeply in love with the Capuchin life despite the difficulties and struggles,” he said. 

“For me, the vows became avenues of freedom. The day I professed my final vows (March 18, 2018 at the St. Augustine Friary in Pittsburgh) was one of the most beautiful days of my life. It’s hard to describe the tangible experience of grace I felt when I professed my vows.”

Brother Thomas, 31, grew up near Columbus St. Andrew Church and is the only son and the youngest of four children of Carla (Ciotola) Piolata and the late Tommy Piolata, who died May 19. 

His father, a real estate agent, was an usher at St. Andrew’s, was involved in its summer festival and pro-life activities and was a fourth-degree member of the Knights of Columbus. The archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, OFM Cap, who also is a Capuchin Franciscan, was among those attending his funeral. Brother Thomas’ mother is part of the family who operated the former DaVinci’s Restaurant in Upper Arlington.

Father and son shared interests in golf and tae kwon do, in which Brother Thomas has a third-degree black belt, and were drummers in rock ’n’ roll groups. “I always was in a band while attending UA (Upper Arlington High School),” Brother Thomas said. His musical groups included 1/3 Nerd, The Shakedown and Suave (“named after the drummer,” he said with a smile).

Brother Thomas said he always was attracted to the Mass, was part of the youth group at Columbus St. Agatha Church and attended Catholic Youth Summer Camp. 

“But the major turning point in my life occurred when I began reading the works of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (who became Pope Benedict XVI), particularly his book Jesus of Nazareth,” he said. “This made Jesus become so alive to me that I said to myself, ‘I want the kind of relationship this man (Benedict) has with Jesus and to share Jesus with others in the way Benedict shared Him with me.’” 

He graduated from UA in 2008 and for the next four years attended Saint Louis University in the Missouri city of the same name. “I applied to several schools, and Saint Louis was the only one to offer me a full scholarship. That made my choice easy,” he said. 

He initially intended to be in pre-med studies, but his reading of Benedict XVI’s works led him to pursue theological formation. He graduated from Saint Louis with an honors Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy, classical humanities and Italian studies. 

“I had a blast in college,” he said. “I was involved in the university’s Karate Club, Students for Life, an a capella musical group as the beat boxer (a style of music in which the human voice imitates the sounds of a drum), the Philosophy Club and Micah House,” a learning community devoted to service work.

“Saint Louis is a Jesuit school, and I met some wonderful Jesuits there. I probably would have become a Jesuit, but I met a great Conventual Franciscan there – Father Wayne Hellmann,” OFM Conv, who is minister provincial for his order’s province that includes Ohio. 

“Father Hellmann is known for his works on the writings of St. Francis of Assisi, and my experience with him heavily influenced my decision to become a Franciscan. Father Hellmann continues to be a dear friend, brother and mentor.”

Conventual and Capuchin Franciscans are branches of the religious order founded by Francis of Assisi in 1209. Brother Thomas said he had been in contact with the Capuchins off and on during his college years because he was touched by a visit to Assisi and Padua, Italy, during a vacation in 2017, which led a priest to ask him, “Have you thought of joining the Capuchins?”

His year of postulancy was spent in Philadelphia, where he served in a door-to-door ministry in the city’s Kensington neighborhood and as an intern with Project Dawn, an initiative similar to Franklin County’s CATCH Court, which helps survivors of human trafficking recover through counseling and drug and alcohol treatment.  

During his year of novitiate, he volunteered at the Catholic Charities food pantry in Santa Barbara, California. He took his first (or simple) vows as a Franciscan in 2014, followed by four years of formation in Washington, D.C., which included ministry and teaching work at several locations in the city. During that time, he also earned Master of Arts degrees in philosophy (2016) and theology (2018) at Catholic University of America.

For the past three years, he has studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, earning a baccalaureate and a licentiate in sacred theology. He was called home for his father’s funeral and will stay in Columbus until August, when he will fly to Germany for two months to study the German language before beginning doctoral studies in Rome in October.

He said he continues to enjoy golf but doesn’t get much chance to play in Rome because the city doesn’t have many golf courses. Some of his favorite pastimes in the Italian capital are bicycling, tae kwon do, visiting churches and “mixing beer and good conversation with friends.”

His academic interests are in medieval theology, especially St. Bonaventure, one of the earliest members of the Franciscans. He hopes to write his doctoral thesis on St. Bonaventure’s theology of the Holy Spirit.

“I began to read Bonaventure with bias because Cardinal Ratzinger likes him,” he said. “In Bonaventure’s writings, I find a profoundly rich and deep synthesis of faith in which Christ emerges explicitly as the centerpiece, and a vision of creation that speaks of God and points to Him in a very robust way.”

Brother Thomas said he feels blessed to have been formed by his parents’ good example and unconditional love and for the support of his Capuchin brothers that has allowed him to pursue his interest in theology. “I treasure my vocation as a brother,” he said, “and I hope by the grace of God I can help contribute to the vision of St. Francis – to live and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”