Former seminarian says ‘belonging’ more important now

Frank Butler’s book includes chapter on time in Little Rock and how it shaped his life

By Aprille Hanson
Associate Editor

In Frank J. Butler’s life, the roads he’s traveled in philanthropy, social justice and the desire for reform all lead back to his deep devotion to the Catholic faith, which was fostered prominently in his eight years at the former St. John Seminary in Little Rock.

“It was the culture of St. John’s and the surrounding community, the people of Little Rock, that touched me greatly, imparting to me the importances of community, of relationships,” Butler told Arkansas Catholic. 

His revelations of what it means to belong to the Catholic faith are revealed in his memoir “Belonging: One Catholic’s Journey,” published this year. Renowned author Father James Martin, SJ, wrote the foreword. 

Butler and his wife Fran, who have three adult children and six grandchildren, live in Washington, D.C. He currently serves on the National Catholic Reporter board and is a trustee for the Mathile Family Foundation in Dayton, Ohio. 

After serving in a senior staff position for what is now the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Butler spent more than 30 years as president of Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities (FADICA), a philanthropic network dedicated to Catholic causes. He retired in 2012. The organization accomplished a variety of initiatives through consultations with the bishops and helped found Support Our Aging Religious (SOAR!), providing funds and grants to aging and infirm religious.

The impetus for sharing his story was the sexual abuse scandal of former cardinal Theodore McCarrick.

“I had to reconcile a life of deep devotion to the Catholic Church with these heartbreaking headlines, which I think many Catholics experienced the same thing. That was the beginning of an exercise, a tour of my own life,” Butler said.

He recalled in the third chapter dubbed “The Arkansas Traveler” about his eight years in seminary. 

In 1958, at just 13 years old, he arrived at St. John Seminary, which became St. John Center. He recognized the human side of the Church during those years, educated by idealistic young priests with a passion for social justice, during a time of rising awareness  of racial injustice with the Central High Crisis still fresh and the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. 

At 18, he traveled to San Miguel, Mexico, with fellow seminarians to build a clean water system. He met a teenage couple, Alfonso and Veronica, and their newborn Juanito. Veronica died from an infection after childbirth when she was taken to a public hospital instead of a better-equipped private Protestant hospital, because the local bishop forbade Catholics using it. Her infant died soon after. 

“The social justice of the classroom came alive in the lives of real people, and I could see the injustice they suffered, but the dominant point of it all is this idea of community and we belong to one another,” he said. 

Experiences at St. John propelled his desire for reform, both inside and outside the Church. 

“Fast forward to today. It’s individualism that has driven us a part,” he said. “We’re deeply divided, we're deeply disconnected with each other.” 

“I think the Church is at an enormously important moment in time, especially because of the balkanization we’ve seen, the divisions. ... We realize we’re not a nation without this sense of belonging to each other. That’s where the Church excels and that’s where it has answers for today’s society.” 

Butler said he hopes Catholics can take a new appreciation for their faith from his memoir. 

“If there’s anything I want to impart it’s the active participation of Catholics in their faith. That’s what we’re learning the hard way in these scandals. There’s not enough involvement, there’s not enough questions, not enough accountability” and that can change by being educated, he said. “You belong to this community ... and you need to take action.” 

‘Belonging’ is available on OrbisBooks.com.

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